The mother and wife of two men who died on the Titanic submersible tour in 2023 has revealed that she was meant to be on the doomed voyage instead of her son. 

Three years after the accident, which claimed the lives of all five people onboard the tiny Titan submersible, Christine Dawood is speaking out as part of her “grief journey”. 

On The Claire Byrne Show, Ms Dawood said she had written a book about the tragedy, 96 Hours, in order to give the public a “glimpse” into who her loved ones were beyond the media headline. 

“I’m opening up a healing centre for trauma and loss here in Britain,” she explained.  

“I felt that the book would be a part of that… I wanted to express what I’ve been through.” 

At the time of their deaths, British businessman Shahzada Dawood was 48 years old and his son, Suleman, was 19 years old and a student at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. 

As a family, they were extremely interested in the legend of Titanic, the supposedly unsinkable ship that sank on its maiden voyage to America, claiming the lives of hundreds on board. 

“Shazada, one of his favorite movies, used to be the black and white Titanic movie, like the first one that came out like ages ago,” Ms Dawood recalled. 

“We went together to the exhibition and it was just something we enjoyed talking about as a family.” 

Titanic survivors. Picture by: Alamy.com.

They spotted an advert on Instagram by the company OceanGate, which offered tours of the Titanic shipwreck and decided it would be their family holiday that summer. 

To begin with, Ms Dawood was meant to accompany her husband on the voyage. 

However, the family’s plan changed when their son asked to go instead. 

“Suleman wanted to have this time with his father because he was supposed to go into the family business with his dad,” she recalled. 

“He wanted to create memories that have nothing to do with business and he really enjoyed going on trips with his father.

“So, of course, it made sense to do that.”

Titanic leaving Southampton in 1912. Picture by: Alamy.com.

Ms Dawood travelled out with them to the wreck on the Polar Prince ship and watched as her loved ones jumped into the Titan submersible, along with three other people. 

It was the last time she ever saw them alive. 

They were meant to be away for between six to seven hours; the submersible took two hours to dive down to the wreck, it would then spend about two hours exploring and then take up to three hours to return to the surface. 

Unbeknown to her, 90 minutes after she waved goodbye to them, the submersible imploded - killing everyone on board instantly. 

Their failure to return to the surface of the ocean triggered a search and rescue expedition, but it took days before their deaths were confirmed. 

“By the time the 6000 meter ROV went into the water and we still hadn't found them, I think after the first couple of breakdowns of the smaller ROVs and they just couldn't find anything, I really started to know, ‘Okay, this is not going well’,” Ms Dawood recalled. 

An officer of speaks during a press briefing in Boston following the search for the missing Titan submersible, which exploded during a dive to see the Titanic. Picture by: Alamy.com.

Following the end of the search, Ms Dawood faced the prospect of returning to Britain without her family. 

“It took us two days to get back to Newfoundland and to St. John's,” she said. 

“It was an awful two days because all you want is to be off that ship - you feel trapped. 

“But on the other hand, it's kind of a safe bubble too, because at that point, the media still wasn't able to get to us.” 

A two year investigation into the tragedy by the US Coast Guard concluded that the deaths of those onboard the Titan submersible were "preventable" and OceanGate had followed "critically flawed" safety practices.

Main image: The Dawood family. Picture by: The Dawood Foundation.