Suleman Dawood, the 19-year-old who died on the Titan submersible along with his father and three others, had brought a Rubik’s Cube on the trip hoping to break a world record, his mother said.
Suleman had applied to Guinness World Records before the mission to view the wreckage of the Titanic and had been “so excited” to try to solve the puzzle 3,700 meters under the ocean, said his mother, Christine Dawood , on the British network. BBC news.
His father, Shahzada Dawood, had even brought a camera to document the record-breaking moment, he said.
The comments came as the US Coast Guard launched an investigation into the submersible’s implosion, following a saga that captivated the world for days and sparked a vast search in the North Atlantic.
Christine said her son loved solving the popular square puzzle and often carried a Rubik’s Cube on him, surprising those around him with his ability to solve it in just 12 seconds.
“He said, ‘I’m going to solve the Rubik’s Cube 3,700 meters under the sea on the Titanic,'” Christine said.Guinness World Records did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.
Christine said she had originally planned to go with her husband to see the Titanic wreck, but said the trip was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Then I stepped back and gave them room to ride [Suleman] up, because I really wanted to go,” he said.
In an earlier interview with NBC News, Suleman’s aunt, Azmeh Dawood, said the 19-year-old had told a relative he was “terrified” and didn’t feel “very ready for” the Titanic ride.
However, he said he went aboard the OceanGate’s 22-foot submarine because the trip fell on Father’s Day weekend and he was eager to please his father, who is passionate about Titanic history.
Both Suleman and his father died along with three other men after the submersible they were in suffered what US Coast Guard officials called a “catastrophic implosion” shortly after embarking on the mission to see the Titanic, 900 nautical miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. on June 18, which marked Father’s Day.
Suleman’s love of Rubik’s cubes was also mentioned in an obituary released by the family of the 19-year-old and his father.
The teenager was remembered by colleagues at the Engro Corporation, where his father was vice president and where Suleman had completed a summer internship in 2022, “as a tall young man who walked with his beloved Rubik’s cube and a smile the face”.
Also killed in the explosion were Hamish Harding, a British tycoon who lived in the United Arab Emirates; French sailor and Titanic expert Paul Henry “PH” Nargeolet, who was nicknamed “Mr. Titanic”; and Stockton Rush, the CEO of the submersible’s operator, OceanGate Expeditions.
The US Coast Guard said Sunday it had launched a marine board of inquiry into the implosion of the submersible Titan. The goal will be to determine what caused the explosion and the deaths of the five men on board, chief investigator Capt. Jason Neubauer said at a news conference. The board can also make recommendations to pursue civil or criminal penalties to the appropriate authorities, he said.
The investigation was in its evidence-gathering phase, which includes recovering debris and working with Canadian authorities in the port of St. John’s, Newfoundland. Once the investigation is complete, the marine board will issue a report to the Coast Guard with its findings and recommendations.
