Teen brought Rubik's Cube on Titanic sub to try and break a world record
When 19-year-old Suleman Dawood boarded OceanGate’s Titan submersible, he made sure to bring one treasured item with him: a Rubik’s Cube.
“He said, ‘I’m going to solve the Rubik’s Cube 3,700 metres below sea at the Titanic,'” his mother, Christine Dawood, said in a TV interview with the BBC.
The teen had even applied to Guinness World Records and his father, Shahzada, was also onboard and ready with a camera to capture the moment.
Christine said that her son, a student at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, never went anywhere without a Rubik’s Cube and could solve the puzzle in just 12 seconds. He loved it so much that he even dressed as a Rubik’s Cube for Halloween.
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The family had planned to view the Titanic sooner; however, their plans were dashed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The family, who lives in the UK, had been on vacation in Canada for about a month before Suleman and Shahzada boarded the sub along with British billionaire Hamish Harding, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, and French explorer Paul-Henry Nargeolet.
Christine was supposed to view the wreckage with her husband, a Titanic enthusiast. However, she gave up her seat for her son, who she said was excited about the trip.
“Then I stepped back and gave them space to set [Suleman] up because he really wanted to go,” she recalled.
Christine and her daughter were on board the Canadian ship the Polar Prince, the sub’s support vessel, to see them off. But when she found out that the ship had lost contact with the sub, Christine said, “I didn’t comprehend at that moment what it meant — and then it just went downhill from there.
“When we passed the 96 hours mark, that’s when I lost hope.”
A Coast Guard spokesperson said Thursday afternoon that debris consistent with the OceanGate Titan vessel was found about 500 metres from the bow of the Titanic. All five occupants are believed to be dead.
“The debris field was consistent with a catastrophic implosion of the vessel,” a Coast Guard representative said at a news conference.
A release from OceanGate Expeditions expressed their sadness that five onboard were not found alive.
“We grieve the loss of life,” they said.
The Dawoods are part of one of Pakistan’s wealthiest families — Shahzada was vice chairman of the conglomerate Engro Corporation, a fertilizer company in Pakistan.
In a Twitter post, the Dawood Foundation stated, “With heavy hearts and great sadness, we grieve the loss of our Trustee, Shahzada Dawood, and his beloved son, Suleman Dawood. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Dawood family at this tragic time.”
— Dawood Foundation (@DawoodTdf) June 23, 2023
The foundation is holding a prayer via livestream on its YouTube channel on Tuesday, June 27 at 9:30 am ET.
With files from Megan Devlin