By Staff Reporter
KARACHI: Engro Corporation said on Tuesday its vice chairman and his son were among five people on a submarine that went missing more than a day earlier off the coast of southeastern Canada while exploring the Titanic wreck.
The Pakistani conglomerate asked people to avoid speculation and said a rescue effort was being jointly led by multiple government agencies and deep-sea companies to find and bring home Shahzada Dawood, his son Suleman and the others on board.
“All that we know so far is that contact was lost with their submersible craft,” Engro said in a statement. “We, at Engro, remain in prayer for their swift and safe return, and will share updates we may have as and when they come.”
The 21-foot craft, operated by OceanGate Expeditions, began its descent on Sunday but lost contact with the surface less than two hours later, according to authorities.
The U.S. Coast Guard said there was one pilot and four passengers on board and that the vessel had the capacity to be submerged for 96 hours, but it was unclear whether it was still underwater or had surfaced and was unable to communicate.
U.S. and Canadian ships and planes have swarmed the area about 900 miles east of Cape Cod, some dropping sonar buoys that can monitor to a depth of 13,000 feet.
Officials said it was a remote area and a challenge to conduct a search there.
OceanGate Expeditions said in a statement on Monday that it was “mobilizing all options” to rescue those on board.
The U.S. Coast Guard said late on Monday that its search for the missing sub had been completed for the day but that a national guard unit and the company operating the underwater mission would continue scouring the surface overnight.
France’s maritime ministry said on Tuesday that the country’s oceanographic institute was sending its vessel Atalante, equipped with a deep-sea underwater robot, to help find the submersible.
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