While Some Pray, Others Have No Empathy for Billionaires on Missing Titanic Sub: People’s Reactions

In the early hours of Sunday morning, a submersible vessel embarked on a dive to the Titanic wreck site. An hour and forty-five minutes into the dive, the ship lost contact and has been missing ever since.

Five passengers are on board the ship. The family and friends of the passengers have been pleading with the public to send prayers and good wishes to them.

While some have been sympathetic and talked about how agonizing this ordeal must be for them, many others have no sympathy for the passengers and have criticized them instead.

On Sunday night, the USGC North East tweeted that the submersible had gone missing just after it embarked on the dive with five passengers on board. They confirmed the vessel was called the Polar Prince.

Who Are The Five People On Board?

Hamish Harding, chairman of Action Aviation, is one of the passengers. Harding's organization sells aircraft to the rich and famous, including politicians, celebrities, and Fortune 500 companies. While Harding is not included in the list of the world's wealthiest people, he is a billionaire.

While he is successful in business, Harding is also a keen adventurer, even holding some Guinness World Records. In 2019, he completed the "fastest circumnavigation of Earth via both the geographic poles," which he did in an airplane.

Harding also went to space with Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin mission last June. Harding confirmed that although he was going on this Titanic expedition, it would likely be the only one this year because of unfavorable weather conditions.

Harding traveled with Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Suleman Dawood. Dawood was the vice-chairman of Dawood Hercules, his family business. He was also the heir to one of Pakistan's most prominent family fortunes.

The Dawood family released a statement shortly after the news of the submersible disappearing broke, saying:

"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."

Paul-Henri Nargeolet was also on board the vessel. Dubbed "the Titanic's greatest explorer," he was a Titanic expert who led over five expeditions to the wreck site. He was also the director of underwater research for the RMS Titanic.

The last passenger was Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate. Rush graduated from Princeton University in 1984 with a Bachelor's Degree in Aerospace Engineering and then from Berkeley Haas School of Business in 1989 with an MBA. He founded OceanGate in 2009 and oversaw the financial and engineering strategies for the company.

How Did People Feel About The Expedition?

Since the news of the expedition going wrong broke on Sunday night, the story gained worldwide coverage. Along with that came many opinions, and only a few were good.

One tweet said the passengers on board were out of touch with reality, and some found it "hilarious" that "bored billionaires" might've been stuck at the bottom of the ocean after spending so much money on an immersive experience.

Another tweet said it was hard to sympathize with them because "They knew the risks and did it anyway." One person likened their journey to how an average person might visit a museum.

One impassioned Twitter user wondered why they would spend such large amounts of money to go and see the Titanic wreckage instead of using the money for a good cause before adding:

"If you're gonna use your wealth stupidly like that, you will face the wrath of God."

Others believed the incident would go down in history as one of the most unbelievable things ever. Many thought the passengers were "crazy" for willingly getting into a submarine and diving into the wreck, while another person said, "Life is not fair," after reading the story.

Among the negative comments were those of hope and support for the passengers. One said they should've waited for a virtual reality experience to become available, and their prayers went out to the victims.

Another mentioned there had been banging and tapping heard on the submarine and that they hoped something could be done soon. The same person sent prayers to the families of the passengers.

One Facebook user wrote a lengthy piece about how unfathomably awful it must be for the five men to be trapped inside the submersible without knowing if they could get out and suggested that instead of criticizing or making fun of them, the public should pray for them.