Christine Dawood Says Titan Disaster Killed Her Husband and Son
christine dawood says the Titan submersible disaster killed her husband, Shahzada Dawood, and their son, Suleman, after she gave up the seat that was meant for her. The 51-year-old widow later wrote a book about the episode, recalling the waiting and the loss that followed when Titan vanished on its descent.
Polar Prince Waiting Room
Dawood said she was on the Polar Prince on the Atlantic surface when the Titan was lost, sitting with Suleman’s teenage sister Alina, OceanGate staff, the ship’s crew and loved ones of other victims. She said, “There were so many different narratives out there, some a bit harsh,” as she described why she chose to write 96 Hours about the tragedy.
The Titan carried five people and was on a mission to descend 3.5 km beneath the surface of the North Atlantic to view the wreck of the Titanic. Shahzada, 48, and Suleman, 19, were among the five people killed when the submersible imploded deep into its descent and all on board died instantly.
OceanGate’s $500,000 Seats
Christine and Shahzada Dawood had paid $500,000 for two seats on OceanGate’s Titan submersible. At the last minute, Suleman begged for her seat, and she did not board the dive that took her husband and son to the wreck site and then into disaster.
The other people killed were Hamish Harding, Stockton Rush and Paul-Henri Nargeolet. Dawood said, “With the book I wanted to show how Shahzada and Suleman really were as people.” She added, “I wanted their voices to come out – to give a human story to the names.”
96 Hours After Titan
Dawood said, “I am not just the ‘mother of’ or the ‘wife of’. There is a life here as well.” That line sits beside the central fact of the Titan disaster: one seat change put her on the surface while five others went down, and her account now keeps the focus on who Shahzada and Suleman were before they became names in the record of the implosion.
The book 96 Hours is her response to the coverage that followed the Titan disaster. For readers following the case, the next step is the book itself: Dawood is already using it to push her family’s story back in front of the names of the dead.
