- Thursday, April 24, 2025
Shahzada is the vice chairman of Engro Corporation, one of Pakistan’s largest conglomerates headquartered in Karachi.
By: Shubham Ghosh
PAKISTANI BUSINESSMAN Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman were on board Titan, a submersible vessel along with three others who started for a dive into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday (18) to witness the Titanic shipwreck located around 12,500 feet underwater. The 21-foot vessel, operated by the USA’s OceanGate Expeditions, reportedly lost contact with the surface less than two hours after its journey started and was yet to be traced. It has a range of 96 hours of oxygen and rescuers were racing against time to find it with the tourists inside safe.
The presence of Shahzada, 48, and Suleman on board the tourist vessel was confirmed by their family in a statement, Pakistani daily Dawn reported. According to the statement, the father-son duo had planned the journey to visit the remnants of the British luxury passenger liner that had sunk after hitting an iceberg in 1912. More than 15,000 had died in the tragedy.
“We are very grateful for the concern being shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to request everyone to pray for their safety,” Reuters quoted the family as saying.
Shahzada is the vice chairman of Engro Corporation, one of Pakistan’s largest conglomerates headquartered in Karachi. The company has investments in fields such as fertiliser, vehicle manufacturing, digital technology and energy. He took over as the vice chairman of the company in October 2021, as per his LinkedIn profile.
According to the website of SETI, a California-based research institute of which Shahzada is a trustee, he resides in the UK with his wife and two children, Dawn added.
Engro Corporation issued a statement in which it said there limited information was available about the location of Shahzada and Suleman.
“There is limited information available beyond this that we know, and we humbly request that speculation and theorisation is avoided,” the company said.
“We, at Engro, remain in prayer for their swift and safe return, and will share updates we may have as and when they come,” it added.
— Engro Corporation (@EngroCorp) June 20, 2023
OceanGate Expeditions also issued a statement on Monday (19), saying, “We are exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely.”
— OceanGate Expeditions (@OceanGateExped) June 19, 2023
Along with the Pakistani businessman and his son, British businessman Hamish Harding was also on board the vessel. He is an aviator, a space tourist, and chairman of Action Aviation, a sales-and-operations company based in Dubai that provides a range of services in the business aviation industry. In an Instagram post on Sunday, the 58-year-old had said that he was proud to join the expedition to go down to the Titanic.
The other two passengers were Stockton Rush, founder and chief executive officer of OceanGate, and Paul-Henry Nargeolet, a former pilot who served in the French Navy for 25 years.
