Titan sub wife says 'ego and arrogance' killed her husband and son
Christine Dawood calls for full regulation of submersibles ahead of US Coast Guard report into the Titan disaster which killed her loved ones
The wife of the billionaire businessman and his son who died on the doomed Titan submersible has told of her determination to ensure that future deep sea diving vessels are regulated - so no one has to suffer as she has.
"I just don't ever want this to happen again to anybody,' Christine Dawood says. 'I would never want anyone to go through that pain.
'I want there to be strict regulations that forbid companies or individuals to do such a thing without having to prove certain parameters. A car manufacturer will not be allowed to license a car out to the public without going through X, Y, Z tests, and I want that to happen for this sector as well, so that you can't release a vessel that is not fit for human travel.'
In June 2023, British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada, 48, and university student Suleman, 19, were among five passengers who perished when the Titan imploded 90 minutes into its voyage to see the Titanic. The others were Titan 's owner, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, 61, British businessman Hamish Harding, 58, and former French navy diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77.
Following its investigation, the US Coast Guard will make its official report into the disaster, which happened when the carbon fibre vessel had nearly reached 4000m below sea level, later this year. But a new BBC documentary had unprecedented access to the USCG investigation and the film contains damning testimonies which point towards criminal negligence.
But Stockton is shown laughing off safety advice and warnings from staff and other experts despite repeated problems with the Titan submersible. Noises recorded during test dives, described at different times as 'cracking' or 'popping' indicated that the hull was breaking up - a process known as delamination.
Speaking to The Mirror, German-born Christine, from Surrey, said her family fell for the hype when it came to booking the trip - which cost an eye-watering $250k each - because Shahzada and Suleman were fascinated by The Titanic, and Stockton was brimming with confidence about taking them to see it.
'I guess the American way of talking and presenting themselves is very different to ours, so I just thought they are a lot more egocentric. I mean, there is a lot of, 'We are awesome,' and the American dream, and, 'We can do it.'
'I wanted to hear the confidence of the person who built it, who ran the company, but also he surrounded himself with literal experts. I mean, one died with them. If you have an expert like this with you, I mean, you don't doubt.'
She said that Shahzada and Suleman were not daredevil thrill-seekers but simply filled with curiosity. 'We just thought it would be a really lovely experience, a little bit out of one's comfort zone, but still,' she explained. 'My husband always loved the story of the Titanic and they did this exhibition all over the world for the 100-year anniversary. We saw it in Singapore as a family, and afterwards Suleman made a papier-mâché Titanic because he was just fascinated.'
But having heard what was said at the public hearings in South Carolina last September, she now struggles to comprehend how OceanGate was able to operate unchallenged. 'The arrogance of the people in charge when they think that they're above everything. That really gets to me. Why is ego and arrogance more important than safety? The irony is not lost on me that the Titanic sunk for exactly the same reasons,' she says in the film. 'We all know who the culprit is - it's not changing anything. The culprit died with them so, who am I to blame?'
She was too grief-stricken to attend the public hearings in person but listened from her home in the UK and said what she heard felt 'like a real crime horror film'.
Christine, 49, has agonised over wishing she had stopped them from taking the voyage, but was relieved when the Coast Guard assured her afterwards that it could not have been predicted by those on board or their families. 'I don't think you can ever get closure, but it helped with moving forward that they kept on saying I could have not known it,' she says. "There was an element of doubt in myself, did I miss something. What could I have done differently? This is the life of my son and my husband they are talking about - so it is deeply personal.'
Despite this, two years on she has worked hard to ensure that feelings of anger and bitterness do not take over. "There's a feeling underneath, which is the grief, which is the loss, which is the loneliness. Christine says that whatever the USCG investigation concludes in terms of blame and responsibility no longer matters to her - so long as the rules governing the trips are changed to prevent future disasters.
'For me personally, it actually doesn't really make a difference because first of all, what's the point of blaming? It's not good for my mental health and it's not going to bring them back. There's a feeling underneath the anger, which is the grief, which is the loss, which is the loneliness. I just decided that I need to concentrate on those true feelings. Knowing that it's negligence, does it give me a relief that it wasn't my fault? I don't know.'
Christine, who also has a daughter, says that confirming how quickly the implosion happened did bring some shreds of comfort. 'When we heard that it was instantaneous, we were like, 'thank God they didn't suffer',' she says quietly. 'They didn't suffer in the moment and they didn't know it was coming because it was so fast, so they would not have had any fear. But the bigger relief almost was that for those four days, they weren't stuck down there where you can't get out, so deep under water.'
Christine is now honouring her son by walking 800km from Surrey to Glasgow, where Suleman was at university, because he'd told her it was something he'd wanted to do with her. She started the five-week walk on Monday and hopes to finish on June 23. Calling the walk The Pathway of Light, she said: 'Walking was our thing, he loved walking and so did his dad. Whenever we wanted to talk about something, just to have some mother-son time, Suleman would join me on the early morning walk with the dog. Now I am joined by friends and family and we walk, and we talk and we remember them.'
Planning the challenge has also helped Christine to deal with the grief and anxiety she has been left with following the tragedy. 'Walking in the fresh air has really helped. I always ask, is it helpful for me if I'm now going to get angry? Is it healthy? Does it bring them back?' she says. 'And if the answer is no, then I try to stay away from that feeling.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Huge holiday hotspot sees big drop in UK tourists after locals 'demonise' them
Benidorm is one of the biggest winners in Spain of the drop in British holidaymakers choosing Magaluf following the party resort "clean-up", local bar and nightclub chiefs say A Spanish holiday resort once beloved by Brits is seeing its popularity falter amid efforts to tidy up its image. According to Miguel Perez-Marsa, head of the ABONE nightclub association on Majorca, young Brits are shunning Magaluf. The area used to be overrun by UK tourists during the summer but now attracts a more diverse European crowd. Miguel argued that Brits feel "demonized." French and Italian visitors, who tend to drink less and spend less on nights out, are filling the void left by British revellers. At the same time, British youths, once the mainstay of Magaluf's raucous Punta Ballena strip, have been "steam-rollered" and are now heading to Benidorm and other "more-welcoming" resorts, Miguel said. While more British families are visiting Magaluf, they're choosing all-inclusive deals, which means they're spending less money outside their hotels, Miguel told Diario de Mallorca. The reputation of Magaluf took a hit following the release of a scandalous sex video in June 2014, involving a British tourist in a bar, which resulted in a year-long closure of the establishment and a concerted effort by local authorities to clean up the resort's image. Magaluf's infamous party strip has been under the spotlight since Majorca's leading politician at the time, Jose Ramon Bauza, slammed Punta Ballena as "500 metres of shame". This came after an 18-year-old girl was tricked into performing sex acts for a supposed free holiday, only to receive a cocktail named 'Holiday'. Fines reaching up to £50,000 were introduced for tourists caught balcony jumping, and alcohol service with meals at all-inclusive hotels in areas like Magaluf was restricted under a regional government decree targeting 'drunken tourism', introduced five years ago. Last year saw even stricter measures, including £1,300 penalties for street drinking and mandatory night-time shutdowns of alcohol-selling shops in parts of Magaluf. In May 2024 the Mirror's Hollie Bone visited Magaluf and was shocked by the levels of debauchery on display, despite these efforts. "In just one night our reporter was offered cocaine five times and witnessed a stag party buying a huge can of nitrous oxide, known as hippy crack, before using it openly in a bar. And previous visitors have urged those going this year to be careful as thuggish bouncers, incidents of spiking and theft still plague the party town," she wrote. "During our week in Magaluf we witnessed several blatant breaches of the new laws. We saw members of the stag party buy two one litre bottles of vodka and gin after making an after-hours deal with a takeaway owner at 3am. The same group also bought the nitrous oxide and inhaled balloons of the gas in front of nonchalant bar workers. "Revellers are still enticed into bars by the offers of a free shot with their first drink. For some young Britons a summer season here is still as attractive and exciting as it was eight years ago. One barman from Tottenham, North London, told us he came here in 2016 and has never looked back." During a visit in May last year, Britain's then-Ambassador to Spain, Hugh Elliott, called on visitors in the Majorcan hotspot to "show responsibility" and remember they are "guests" in Spain. British holidaymakers form the majority of Benidorm's international visitors. Recent statistics revealed that over two-thirds of the Costa Blanca resort's tourists in May were from overseas, with an encouraging average hotel occupancy rate of 84.7% for the month. This Sunday an anti-mass tourism demonstrators are gearing up for another rally in the Majorcan capital, Palma. The event is orchestrated by activist group Menys Turisme, Mes Vida, with a coalition of 60 organisations confirming their participation. Activists from other cities such as Barcelona and San Sebastian are set to join in a series of synchronised protests. A spokesperson for Menys Turisme, Mes Vida declared last week: "We will demonstrate for the right to a decent life and to demand the brakes are put on the touristification of this island."
Scottish Sun
3 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
I'm the famous Peru Two drug mule – this is my warning to Brit tourists… and how gangs know EXACTLY who to target
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) PERU Two drug mule Michaella McCollum has warned Brit tourists about how trafficking gangs lure young girls into their criminal operations. The infamous drug trafficker served three years behind bars in 2013 alongside Melissa Reid after they were handpicked to smuggle £1.5million worth cocaine into Peru. 8 Peru Two drug mule Michaella McCollum has warned Brit tourists about how trafficking gangs lure young girls into their criminal operations Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 8 Brit Bella May Culley was arrested in Tbilisi airport, Georgia, with a suitcase packed with drugs Credit: Facebook 8 Charlotte May Lee, 21, former TUI flight attendant from Coulsdon, was allegedly recruited to smuggle drugs into Sri Lanka Credit: Shutterstock Editorial Since being freed from a hellhole jail in Lima, McCollum transformed her life and is now a mum and public speaker. Part of her work includes exposing how foreign drug operations try and recruit British mules. The 31-year-old appeared on Good Morning Britain this morning to speak on the increasing danger of Brits being preyed upon abroad. It comes after a spate of young women being arrested on trafficking charges including Bella May Culley, 18, and Charlotte May Lee, 21. McCollum told Susanna Reid that people are often picked by drug chiefs specifically due to how vulnerable they appear. She explained: "That's what they do these organisations, they have people that are pickers and their job is to pick people to become mules. "They'll target vulnerabilities which might be age because at 19 or 20 you're incredibly naive, you're easy to manipulate. "Then women as well as obviously women tend to be groomed and coerced in situations a lot more. "Then whether you have a drug addiction as that could also be a vulnerability." McCollum was aged 19 at the time of her first being recruited with her Peru Two partner Reid being only 20. Charlotte May Lee fears being locked away for 20yrs over £1.2m Sri Lanka drugs bust – & is 'aware' of Bella Culley case She has also been open about her drug habits around the time of her arrest as she believes this contributed to her recruitment. Bella Culley - the teen arrested in Georgia last month - was seen smoking in videos shared to her social media in the weeks before she was stopped at the border and detained. Michaella also revealed that the drug kingpins ordering young women to become traffickers are masters at manipulation. She says that when she was first coerced into taking a suitcase of cocaine across the border her bosses convinced her that everything would be okay. Michaella was made to feel like a "little girl" when she questioned the dangers of smuggling, she said. Her concerns were always met with simple solutions, she added. She recalled once asking about how they would get the drugs through the airport before being told the airport staff is in cahoots with the operations being carried out and allow them. By the time she realised the answers were a lie, Michaelle said she was already in handcuffs. 8 Michaella McCollum entering the Sarita Colonia jail with a police escort in October, 2013 Credit: EPA 8 McCollum told Susanna Reid that people are often picked by drug chiefs specifically due to how vulnerable they appear Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 8 Michaella McCollum is now a mum-of-two and author Credit: Instagram/@Michaella_McCollum She continued: "You have to understand that the level of manipulation that goes on behind it as it's not just overnight, it can be weeks of manipulation. "They ended up making me believe that this was totally fine. I was being dramatic, I was being naive to question it. "So I was so scared to say no and men know they can manipulate women to do things and I was so scared to just say no." Both Peru Two mules became friends when holidaying in Ibiza in August 2013 and were soon coerced into cocaine trafficking. But in October, they were arrested as they stepped off a lane in Lima, Peru. McCollum and Reid were convicted of drug smuggling and sentenced to six years and eight months in a dismal Ancon 2 prison. At the time, the pair's horror trip led them to becoming household names as they both admitted to being used by the gangs. In recent weeks, a string of British women have faced similar worrying experiences after being recruited by foreign gangs. A couple claiming to be tourists from Thailand were busted with more than 33kg of cannabis in their suitcases at a Spanish airport in May. Why Brit backpackers are prime targets, Thai cop reveals By Patrick Harrington, Foreign News Reporter Police Lieutenant Colonel Arun Musikim, Deputy Inspector of the Surat Thani province police force, said: 'Cases involving British nationals smuggling cannabis have been around for a while. 'There is a lot of cannabis grown on Thailand's islands in the south because the climate is suitable and it is legal. A lot of gangs are attracted to this. 'There are now various smuggling methods that we have seen. Some carry it themselves, some hire backpackers, and some send it via mail. 'This year, there have been many cases we have intercepted. Most involve British and Malaysian nationals. 'It's easy for British citizens to travel as they can enter Thailand and return to the UK without needing a visa. 'Most of the smugglers are people hired to carry the cannabis, similar to how tourists might smuggle tax-free goods. 'They're usually unemployed individuals from the UK. The gangs offer them flights, pocket money and hotel stays, just to come and travel and take a bag back home with them. 'These people often have poor social standing at home and are looking for ways to earn quick money. They find them through friends or on social media. 'Many will go to festivals or parties while they are here, just like they are having a normal trip abroad. 'They are told that it is easy and they will not be caught. Then the amount the organisers can sell the cannabis for in the UK is much higher than it costs in Thailand. 'Police suspect that there are multiple employers and groups receiving the drugs on the other end. The cannabis then enters the UK market. 'We are being vigilant to ensure there are no routes out of the country.' A British OnlyFans model was also caught allegedly smuggling nearly £200,000 worth of Thai cannabis into Spain. But the two largest and most concerning cases covered Bella and Charlotte. Bella sparked a massive international search operation in early May after she was reported missing while holidaying in Thailand. However, it was later revealed that the teen, from Billingham, County Durham, had been arrested 4,000 miles away on drug offences in Georgia. She was allegedly carrying 30 pounds (14kg) of cannabis into the ex-Soviet nation. Around the same time, 21-year-old Charlotte Lee May, from Coulsdon, south London, was also arrested in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo after police discovered 46 kg of 'Kush' - a synthetic strain of cannabis - in her suitcase. The former flight attendant is now facing up to 25 years in prison if convicted. 8 Bella pictured in court in Tbilisi after she was detained at a Georgian airport Credit: East2West
Spectator
4 hours ago
- Spectator
Police blow £17 million on 300 diversity staff
Good news for British bobbies: you are about to get a real-terms pay rise. Yes, that is right: Yvette Cooper has reportedly wrung the change out of Rachel Reeves, amid some eleventh-hour pay negotiations ahead of Wednesday's spending review. But while few would begrudge those working hard some extra cash, Mr S is not alone in wondering whether the boys in blue really are spending all their sums effectively. For some coppers, it seems, are less interested in being police constables and more rather concerned with political correctness. A spate of stories have appeared in the papers recently, in which overzealous officers pitch up at mild-mannered citizens' homes. Examples include Telegraph writer Allison Pearson, visited by Essex Police on Remembrance Day, and journalist Maxie Allen who was arrested over 'malicious communications' in a school WhatsApp chat. So Mr S has done some digging into the cost of how much equality and diversity posts are costing police forces across the UK.
