Explorer Hamish Harding ID’d by family as among the 5 missing on Titanic tourist submarine
World-renowned explorer Hamish Harding is among the five people who went missing aboard a tourist submarine visiting the shipwreck of the Titanic Monday morning, his family has confirmed.
Harding’s family said the 58-year-old British millionaire was aboard the missing OceanGate Expeditions submarine on Monday, a day after he shared his excitement about the trip on Instagram.
“We started steaming from St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada yesterday and are planning to start dive operations around 4am tomorrow morning. Until then we have a lot of preparations and briefings to do,” Harding wrote alongside picture of himself signing a banner celebrating the expedition.
His stepson, Brian Szasz, reposted Harding’s message on Facebook Monday, writing: “Thoughts and prayers for my stepfather Hamish Harding as his Submarine has gone missing exploring Titanic. Search and rescue mission is underway.”
The Boston Coast Guard said an active search was underway for the missing OceanGate Expeditions submarine, which offers tourists a chance to visit the wreck 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, for $250,000.
The visit to the Titanic was poised to be only the latest in Harding’s impressive travel resume, with the explorer previously visiting space aboard the Blue Origin mission last year.
The father-of-two was one of the six astronauts to ride aboard Blue Origin’s fifth human flight aboard the New Shepard rocket on June 4, 2022.
Harding also boasts three Guinness World Records for his daring exploits. In 2019, he was a member of the crew who captured the record for circumnavigating the globe to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
During the mission, Harding and a crew of eight astronauts broke the world speed record for the fastest circumnavigation via the North and South Poles aboard a Qatar Gulfstream ultra-long-range business jet.
Tourist submersible exploring Titanic wreckage disappears in Atlantic Ocean
What we know
A submersible on a pricey tourist expedition to the Titanic shipwreck in the Atlantic Ocean has vanished with likely only four days’ worth of oxygen. The US Coast Guard said the small submarine began its journey underwater with five passengers Sunday morning, and the Canadian research vessel that it was working with lost contact with the crew about an hour and 45 minutes into the dive.
It was later found that a top-secret team with the US Navy detected the implosion of the Titan submersible on Sunday, but did not stop search efforts due because the evidence was “not definitive” and a decision was made to “make every effort to save the lives on board.”
Who was on board?
The family of world explorer Hamish Harding confirmed on Facebook that he was among the five traveling in the missing submarine. Harding, a British businessman who previously paid for a space ride aboard the Blue Origin rocket last year, shared a photo of himself on Sunday signing a banner for OceanGate’s latest voyage to the shipwreck.
Also onboard were Pakistani energy and tech mogul Shanzada Dawood and his son Sulaiman, 19; famed French diver and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and OceanGate founder and CEO Stockton Rush.
- Missing Titanic sub live updates
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- Titanic tourist Hamish Harding’s family slams OceanGate for delay in reporting missing sub
- Coast Guard knew Titan sub imploded Sunday, but continued search anyway — here’s why
What’s next?
“We’re doing everything we can do to locate the submersible and rescue those on board,” Rear Adm. John Mauger told reporters. “In terms of the hours, we understood that was 96 hours of emergency capability from the operator.
Coast Guard officials said they are currently focusing all their efforts on locating the sub first before deploying any vessel capable of reaching as far below as 12,500 feet where the Titanic wreck is located.
Mauger, first district commander and leader of the search-and-rescue mission, said the US was coordinating with Canada on the operation.
The debris recovered from the US Coast Guard’s Titan submersible search site early Thursday included “a landing frame and a rear cover from the submersible.”
After search efforts to recover the stranded passengers proved futile, and bits of debris from the submersible were found, it was decided that the sub imploded, which correlated with an anomaly picked up by the US Navy in the same area.
The Coast Guard later reported that all 5 passengers were confirmed dead, and rescue efforts were halted.
And on March 5, 2021, Harding and Victor Vescovo set world records for greatest length covered at full ocean depth and greatest time spent at full ocean depths for their two-man,12-hour mission to reach the deepest point of the Mariana Trench.
Harding has notably made multiple visits to the South Pole, including one in 2016 where he accompanied Buzz Aldrin, who became the oldest person to reach the pole at 86.
Harding and Aldrin both serve as members of the Explorers Club, with Harding acting as the chairman of the club’s Middle East chapter.
Harding is also the founder of Action Group and the chairman of Action Aviation, an international aircraft brokerage company based in the United Arab Emirates.
Last year, Harding was one of four recipients of the third annual European Living Legends of Aviation Awards, joining the ranks of Kenn Ricci, Jeff Bezos and even Tom Cruise.
OceanGate Expeditions confirmed that it was their 5-person sub that went missing during the visit to the Titanic shipwreck about 12,500 feet at the bottom of the ocean.
“Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families,” the company said in a statement. “We are exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely.”
It remains unclear who else was aboard the sub with Harding, although the missing man did say in his most recent post that a veteran Frenchy Navy diver P.H. Nargeolet was one of the people joining him for Monday’s trip.
The famed diver has previously led several expeditions to the Titanic. A representative for Nargeolet did not immediately respond to the Post’s request for comment.
OceanGate touts its eight-day trip to the Titanic as a “chance to step outside of everyday life and discover something truly extraordinary.”
The dives themselves can last up to 10 hours each, with the company boasting about recent trips to the Titanic on social media.
OceanGate noted that because of its location in the middle of the Atlantic, they rely on Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites for its communications at sea.
The company posted on Twitter that only one expedition to the Titanic was ongoing due to weather in Newfoundland, with two more planned for June 2024.
