What we know about who is on the missing Titan submersible

As rescue crews race against the clock to find a missing submersible in the North Atlantic Ocean, media outlets around the world are learning more about the passengers involved.

The Titan, operated by OceanGate, dipped beneath the surface on Sunday evening with five people on board. There is one pilot, who works for the company, and four "mission specialists" — a term the company uses for paying customers.

Here's what we know about who is on the missing watercraft.

The father and son, originally from Pakistan but now living in Surrey, U.K., were confirmed to be on the voyage in a statement from the Engro Corporation.

Shazada Dawood is a vice-chairman with the Pakistani polymer and chemical company. According to the New York Times, the Dawoods come from one of the wealthiest families in the country.

"All that we know so far is that contact was lost with their submersible craft," reads a statement from Engro. "There is limited information available beyond this that we know, and we humbly request that speculation and theorization is avoided."

Shazada Dawood is also on the board of directors for SETI — the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute — which bills itself as "America's only organization wholly dedicated to searching for life in the universe."

The 58-year-old British national is an established businessman, pilot and exploration enthusiast.

Harding holds three Guinness World Records, including one for the longest time spent in the deepest part of the ocean on a single dive. He plunged to a depth of 11,000 metres on March 5, 2021. 

Like Dawood, Harding has a keen interest not only in the depths of the ocean, but also the heights of space. He was part of a Blue Origin flight — the space tourism project founded by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos — on June 4, 2022.

In keeping with his streak of daring adventures, Harding booked a ticket to see the Titanic in June of 2023.

"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 wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday. "A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow."

Harding is married and has two children.

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