The wife of the missing Titanic submersible’s pilot is a descendant of passengers who died on the ocean liner when it sank in 1912.
Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate Expeditions that is running the expedition, is the pilot of the vessel called Titan which set off around 6am on Sunday.
His wife Wendy Rush has great-great-grandparents who were on the Titanic and perished in the North Atlantic Ocean when it hit an iceberg.
Isidor and Ida Straus were two of the wealthiest people on the ship that went down as it headed to the United States.
Mr Straus was a retailing magnate and co-owner of Macy’s department store.
Ms Rush was born Wendy Hollings Weil and reportedly married the CEO of OceanGate Expeditions back in 1986.
She has also taken part in trips to the Titanic wreckage and is believed to be the company’s communications director.
Isidor Straus is famous for his gallantry in refusing a seat on a lifeboat while there were still women and children attempting to leave the Titanic, in accounts from survivors.y
His wife is also said to have refused to leave her husband, and they went down with the ship standing arm in arm on deck.
Their history on the Titanic was also used in the 1997 Titanic film where an older couple can be seen standing on the stricken ship.
The other passengers on the Titan are British adventurer Hamish Harding; Pakistani nationals Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, whose eponymous firm invests across the country; and French explorer and Titanic expert Paul-Henry Nargeolet.
Rescuers have rushed more ships and vessels to the site of the disappearance, hoping underwater sounds they detected for a second straight day might help narrow their search in the urgent, international mission.
The US coast guard has been leading an international rescue effort which was stepped up after underwater noises were heard although experts have been unable to determine the cause of the sound.
But the crew had only a four-day oxygen supply when the vessel went down to the wreckage of the Titanic and that is due to run out at 12.08pm today.
The area of the search has been expanded, with the surface search now about 10,000 square miles, and the sub-surface search about 2.5 miles deep.
The coast guard had five surface vessels searching for Titan on Wednesday and they expected there to be 10 by Thursday, captain Jamie Frederick said at a press conference.
