Titanic Submersible teenager went to please loving father

Suleman Dawood and his dad were two of a group of five men killed when the Titan submersible suffered a “catastrophic implosion”.

OceanGate, the company behind the expedition, released a statement on Friday morning confirming its CEO Stockton Rush, Hamish Harding, Paul-Henri Nargeolet and the father-son duo had “sadly been lost”.

The aunt of Suleman revealed her nephew “wasn’t very up for it” but had gone along to please his dad, who had a vested interest in the 1912 shipwreck of the Titanic.

“I am thinking of Suleman, who is 19, in there, just perhaps gasping for breath … It’s been crippling, to be honest,” Azmeh Dawood told NBC News from her home in Amsterdam.

She told the publication she was in “disbelief” over the “unreal situation”.

“I feel like I’ve been caught in a really bad film, with a countdown, but you didn’t know what you’re counting down to,” she said.

The distressed aunt said she had found it difficult to breathe while thinking of her late loved ones, saying it had been “unlike any experience I’ve ever had”.

Not even a million dollars would convince her to board the submersible, she added.

Ms Dawood had fallen out of touch with her brother, the vice chairman of Engro Corporation, in recent years.

After being diagnosed with primary progressive multiple sclerosis in 2014, she had been “reduced to being in a wheelchair”, she told the publication.

Her brother had reportedly disapproved of her decision to move from England to Amsterdam to gain easier access to medical cannabis.

Since hearing of his death, she had reminisced on life with him as a child.

“He was my baby brother, I held him up when he was born,” she told the publication, saying she would remember her brother as someone who was “thoroughly good-hearted”.

John Mauger, Rear Admiral of the US Coast Guard, confirmed early Friday the debris field found by a remote operating vehicle (ROVs) today was consistent with a “catastrophic implosion”.

An implosion is a process in which an object is destroyed by collapsing or being squeezed by force in on itself.

But it is not clear what caused the vessel – specially designed to withstand extreme depths – to implode.

David Mearns – a sub expert and friend of two of the Titan passengers – said debris found in the search for the sub could hold vital clues.

“The landing frame and a rear cover from the submersible [was found],” he told Sky News.

“It means the hull hasn’t yet been found but two very important parts of the whole system have been discovered and that would not be found unless it was fragmented.”

OceanGate released a statement early this morning (AEST) expressing its condolences while thanking all involved in the search efforts.

“We now believe that our CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, have sadly been lost,” it read.

“These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans. Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time. We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew.

“This is an extremely sad time for our dedicated employees who are exhausted and grieving deeply over this loss. The entire OceanGate family is deeply grateful for the countless men and women from multiple organisations of the international community who expedited wide-ranging resources and have worked so very hard on this mission.

“We appreciate their commitment to finding these five explorers, and their days and nights of tireless work in support of our crew and their families.

“We respectfully ask that the privacy of these families be respected during this most painful time.”