19-Year-Old Joined Dad on DoomedTitanDive, Ex-Employee Says Company Had 'No Concerns' About That

Mar. 15, 2025

Businessman Shahzada Dawood, the vice-chairman of Karachi-headquartered conglomerate Engro, and his son Suleman.Photo:HANDOUT/DAWOOD HERCULES CORPORATION/AFP

HANDOUT/DAWOOD HERCULES CORPORATION/AFP

Before theTitansubmersibleimploded in June 2023, killing all five passengers, an ex-employee of the company behind the sub said there were “no concerns” that a 19-year-old would be among the people onboard.

Amid the ongoing Coast Guard hearings on theTitanimplosion, Amber Bay, the former director of administration at OceanGate, testified on Tuesday, Sept. 24 that the company wasn’t concerned aboutSuleman Dawoodjoining the dive with his dad Shahzada.

The two died, along withBritish businessman Hamish Harding,French diver and Titanic expert Paul-Henry NargeoletandOceanGate CEO and co-founder Richard Stockton Rush.

“[There were no] true misgivings,” Bay said. “Stockton spoke to the family directly on a few occasions and met with them personally so there were no concerns once they’d been spoken with.”

“Everyone understood and was ready and excited to dive,” she added.

Dawood told the outlet that she had planned to visit theTitanicwith her husband, but the trip was canceled due to theCOVID-19pandemic.

“I stepped back and gave them space to set [Suleman] up, because he really wanted to go,” she told the outlet last summer. “I was really happy for them because both of them, they really wanted to do that for a very long time.”

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As for the final words she shared with her husband and son, Christine said, “Well we just hugged and joked actually, because Shahzada was so excited to go down, he was like a little child. So the sentence, we lost comm, I think that will be a sentence I never want to hear in my life again.”

Hamish Harding; Stockton Rush; Paul-Henri Nargeolet; Suleman Dawood; Shahzada Dawood.JOEL SAGET,HANDOUT/Dirty Dozen Productions/OceanGat/AFP via Getty Images

JOEL SAGET,HANDOUT/Dirty Dozen Productions/OceanGat/AFP via Getty Images

Like many of her former colleagues, Bay became emotional as she spoke about the lives lost that day in June 2023.

“I had the privilege of knowing the explorers whose lives were lost: Stockton, P.H., Shahzada, Suleman and Hamish,” she said. “There’s not a day that passes that I don’t think of them, their families and their loss. It’s been a difficult year for them, for all of us.”

“I would also like to thank the board for the work they’ve done and continue to do,” she tearfully added.

Titan sub.HANDOUT/OceanGate Expeditions/AFP via Getty

HANDOUT/OceanGate Expeditions/AFP via Getty

After the hearing ends on Friday, Sept. 27, the Coast Guard will “review testimony from technical experts, crew members, and other relevant parties, and will examine evidence related to the submersible’s design, operation, and safety protocols.” Investigators will submit a final report once their work is complete, which is expected to go beyond the two-week hearing.

source: people.com