London, June 20 (EFE).- Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son were among those traveling aboard a tourist submersible that vanished during a dive to the wreckage of the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean, UK media reported on Tuesday.
The pair were traveling with British explorer Hamish Harding and his son on the sub with one other person when it went missing on Sunday.
US and Canadian coast guards continued the search against the clock to locate the OceanGate Expeditions’ Titan submersible which lost contact with research vessel Polar Prince on Sunday and had up to 96 hours of oxygen left at the time the US coast guard held a press conference on Monday afternoon.
Rescue efforts are focused on an area approximately 900 miles (1,450 kilometers) off Cape Cod in Massachusetts, said First US Coast Guard District commander John Mauger in Monday’s press conference.
The submersible could be on the surface or underwater down to a depth of 13,000 feet (about 4,000 meters).
“It is a remote area and it is a challenge to conduct a search in that remote area, but we are deploying all available assets to make sure that we can locate the craft and rescue the people on board,” Mauger said.
Dawood lives with his family in the UK and sponsors the SETI Institute, a nonprofit research center that explores the origins of the universe.
Renowned adventurer Harding is a UK businessman who is chairman of aircraft firm Action Aviation and is well known for having flown into space.
The British explorer wrote a last post on social media over the weekend warning of bad weather conditions in St John’s in Newfoundland, Canada, the site from where the expedition took off.
“Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023,” he said.
Communication with the vessel was lost 45 minutes into the dive.
The British passenger liner, which sank after hitting an iceberg in 1912, lies at a depth of around 3,800 meters and approximately 640 kilometers from the Canadian island of Newfoundland.
Over 2,200 people were aboard the Titanic when it sank leaving at least 1,500 dead. EFE
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