The recent implosion of the Titan submersible made headlines around the world, including in Middle Eastern media. The craft had been ferrying high-paying passengers to view the wreck of the Titanic when tragedy struck. While the full details of the event have now been revealed, much about the sinking of the original vessel remains unknown.

Bound for New York City, the RMS Titanic set sail from Southampton, UK, on 15th April 1912. What happened next is well known – the ship sank to the bottom of the North Atlantic after hitting an iceberg. Aboard the luxury passenger liner were 2,240 people, including high-ranking political officials from around the world, wealthy businessmen, dignitaries, and celebrities eager to be seen aboard the world's most celebrated ship, said to be unsinkable thanks to state-of-the-art technology. Only 706 people survived. The Titanic’s voyage and the stories of those on board have since inspired enduring fascination, capturing the imagination of countless authors, filmmakers, and journalists. On the one hand a story of bravery in the face of adversity, the ship’s fate has also been touted as a cautionary tale about the dangers of human hubris in the face of nature.

That much is old news. But while most people have heard countless stories of the British, Irish, and American lives cut short by the tragic accident, much less is known of the Arab passengers who set sail on that fateful voyage.

The passenger list and available records from the time are not comprehensive, making it challenging to accurately piece the story together. One issue is that the differing naming conventions that existed at the time as well as incorrect transliteration or translation of Arabic names meant that it is far from clear which people were intended to appear on the lists of the survivors and the deceased. This meant that many families never learned for sure what had become of their loved ones or whether they had even boarded the ship at all.

Certain North American newspapers incorrectly labeled Syrians as originating from "Assyria" and speaking "Assyrian," referring to the ancient empire that covered a much wider area than the modern nation of Syria, which in 1912 was part of the Ottoman Empire. It also appears that most of the Arab passengers travelling on the Titanic were poorer than the European and American passengers and thus had third class tickets. Many of them also did not speak English, especially women, and were likely deemed less worthy of newspaper coverage. Only Arab newspapers told their stories, which then eluded researchers for a long time, making it harder to get a glimpse into the lives of Arab passengers and their intended journeys.

We now know that over 160 Lebanese people boarded the Titanic in search of a better life for themselves and their families. They were from Kfarmishki, Zgharta, Zahle, Bkassine, Bint Jbeil, Hardine, and many other towns in modern-day Syria and Lebanon. The only known Arab passenger to have travelled in first class was Hammad Hassab, an Egyptian man working as a translator, guide, and interpreter for Henry Sleeper Harper, an American businessman returning to the US after a stay in Egypt. A Lebanese newlywed couple travelled with second-class tickets, but most of the Arab passengers were on the ship as either crew members or third-class passengers.

Leila Salloum Elias’ 2011 book The Dream and then the Nightmare delves into the stories of those she calls "the Syrians" – meaning people from Syria, Lebanon, and Armenia, which were at that time part of the Ottoman Empire. These travellers embarked on the Titanic during the peak of Syrian immigration to the US, from around 1880 to 1920, which was caused by food shortages and a weak Syrian economy, on top of the familiar political and religious tensions that continue to plague the country.

Elias puts the number of Syrians who travelled on the Titanic at around 130 people. Some were the first of their kin to emigrate. Others were on their way to join family members in America or were returning to the US after visiting family back in their homeland. Elias travelled to the home villages of the passengers whose names she had found and interviewed their descendants and family members. Her research of the 1912 materials in both Arabic and English found interesting tidbits of information about some of the passengers with work records, but revealed very little of others for whom no family or work history could be found. Shockingly, she claims that some Arab passengers, rather than drowning, were shot dead in the confusion and chaos, after refusing to obey orders because they could not understand or trying to hide in lifeboats.

It appears the ship's officers favoured first-class passengers and hid the truth of the situation from lower-deck passengers. They seem to have made little or no effort to communicate with non-English speakers. With a certain dark humour, Elias recalls the words of a woman who had survived the sinking whose homemade ferments had gone bad during the trip. She not only lamented the accident but recalled mournfully asking "kif badna na’amal laban?" (how can we make yoghurt?) when recounting what ensued following the Titanic sinking. This distinctly Arab tale is no doubt one of many that disappeared beneath the waves.

There remain many unanswered questions about the Arabic-speaking passengers of the Titanic. Estimates of the number of Arab passengers in local and international newspapers ranged from Elias’ estimate of 130 to almost 200. Around 30 appear to have survived, of which only four were men. By all accounts, the sinking of the Titanic was a tragic loss for Arab communities worldwide.