Two Titan submersible passengers were prominent science philanthropists in Pakistan

Two of the passengers who died when the Titan submersible imploded on its way to explore the wreckage of the Titanic in the North Atlantic belonged to a family that are prominent philanthropic funders of science in Pakistan.

Shahzada Dawood, and his son, Suleman Dawood, were part of the Dawood Foundation, which set up a university, girls’ school and museum, all with major focuses on science.

“The tragic loss of father and son is, first and foremost, a human tragedy and a tragedy for the family,” says environmental scientist Adil Najam, who also studies philanthropic giving in Pakistan. “We have also lost someone with a real, personal and abiding interest in science. It is a tremendous loss of a champion for science.”

“This is a huge tragedy for Pakistan,” adds Atta-ur-Rahman, a chemist at the University of Karachi and a former minister for science. “The [Dawood] family has made enormous contributions to education and science during the last five or six decades.”

The Dawood family’s foundation established the Dawood University of Engineering and Technology in Karachi; the Karachi School of Business and Leadership; the MagnifiScience Centre, Pakistan’s first contemporary science museum also in Karachi. Dawood public school provides high quality science education for girls, Najam says.

Members of the Dawood family posted a statement to the foundation website about the deaths of Shahzada and Suleman. “We are truly grateful to all those involved in the rescue operations. The immense love and support we receive continues to help us endure this unimagineable loss.” The statement also said: “At this time, we are unable to receive calls and request that support, condolences and prayers be messaged instead.”

Both Rahman and physicist Pervez Hoodbhoy of the Black Hole Institute, a science and cultural centre in Islamabad, say that the Dawood Foundation is a rare example of much-needed science-philanthropy. Many young people are trying to leave Pakistan because of an economic crisis and a lack of opportunities. Around 800,000 people left in 2022 to seek work abroad. Between 400 and 750 people from Pakistan, as well as Egypt and Syria died last week when a boat capsized off the Mediterranean Sea on its way from Libya to Europe, according to media reports.

The Dawood family foundation has tried to address these problems by creating opportunities for science education. Rahman adds that there is much more that needs to be done. “We need to rethink our national policies, so that we can use this huge pool of talent for our own socio-economic development,” he says.

The Titan, which was owned and operated OceanGate Expeditions, a private company, is understood to have imploded One hour and 45 minutes after it descended into the deep sea on 18 June, according to the United States Coast Guard. The remains of the submersible were discovered on 22 June — around 488 metres from the bow of the Titanic wreck and about 4 kilometres below sea-level — by a robotic diving vehicle deployed from a Canadian ship as part of an international rescue effort. “The debris is consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber,” John Mauger of the US Coast Guard said in a press briefing on 22 June.

The five passengers who lost their lives were: Hamish Harding, a businessman and explorer; Explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet and Stockton Rush, co-founder of OceanGate, along with Shahzada Dawood, an industrialist and Suleman Dawood, a student at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.