US Coast Guard confirms that all five aboard the Titanic submersible have been lost. Video / AP
The wife and mother of a billionaire and a teenager who died in the Titan submersible has said she gave up her place on the voyage because her son wanted to go.
Speaking to the BBC in Saint John’s, a city on the island of Newfoundland off Canada’s east coast, where the vessel embarked last Sunday, Dawood, who had been on the search boat with her daughter looking for her loved ones, said: “I lost hope when we passed the 96 hours mark - that’s when I lost hope.
“That was when I sent a message to my family on shore and said, ‘I’m preparing for the worst’.”
In her first interview since the tragedy, Dawood said she had originally planned to explore the Titanic wreck with her husband, but the trip was cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
She then said she “stepped back” from the voyage to allow Suleman to take her place “because he really wanted to go”. Her comments contradict previous reports that the teenager was “terrified” before the trip but went anyway as a Father’s Day present.
She said she never wanted to hear the sentence “we lost comm” - signalling the submarine had lost communication with the outside world - ever again.
Asked what her last words were to her husband, who was one of Pakistan’s wealthiest businessmen, and her son, she said: “We just hugged and joked actually, because Shazada was so excited to go down he was like a little child.
“He had this ability of childlike excitement so they both were so excited.”
Suleman, she added, would not go anywhere without his Rubik’s Cube and even took it on board the vessel, in the hope of setting a world record of the deepest solving.
“He used to teach himself through YouTube, how to solve the Rubik’s Cube, and he was really fast at it. I think his best was 12 seconds or something like that.”
It comes as the United States Coast Guard ordered a far-reaching inquiry into the disaster which could lead to criminal and civil action being taken against those held responsible.
It has convened a Marine Board of Investigation (MBI) – the highest level of investigation conducted by the US Coast Guard.
Captain Jason Neubauer, who will head the inquiry, said its main task is to report on the cause of the accident which claimed five lives.
“The MBI, however, is also responsible for accountability aspects of the incident,” he said.
“And it can make recommendations to the proper authorities to pursue civil or criminal sanctions as necessary.
“However, any subsequent enforcement activities would be pursued under a separate investigation.”
Captain Jason Neubauer during a news conference. Photo / AP
Other maritime safety bodies, including Britain’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch, can also request to take part in the inquiry, Neubauer continued.
Canada’s Transportation Safety Board said on Saturday that it had begun its own inquiry. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is also examining the circumstances surrounding the disaster.
Neubauer said his team was still gathering evidence as part of the salvage exercise following the end of the search and rescue operation.
“The priority of the investigation is to recover items from the seafloor. We have already mapped the accident site.”
Investigators are already conducting interviews in St John’s, the port from which the Polar Prince, Titan’s support vessel, set off.
The investigation will hold a public hearing in which it will gather witness evidence.
A final report, intended to boost the safety of submersible operations, will be sent to the International Maritime Organisation as well as individual countries’ maritime authorities.
Rear Admiral John Mauger of the US Coast Guard said 11 ships, five “subsurface assets” and four planes took part in the search which covered 33,669 square kilometres of ocean.
The US Navy said on Sunday that it would not deploy the Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System, which would have been capable of recovering the Titan had it been intact.
Debris from the Titan was found about 488 metres from the wreck of the Titanic.
