Hamish Harding is among the five people aboard a tourist submersible (submarine) that went missing while visiting the Titanic shipwreck.
Hamish Harding, chairman of Dubai-based Action Aviation and a British millionaire known for his exploratory escapades across the globe, boarded the OceanGate Expeditions submersible on Sunday morning to see the sunk Titanic ship lying on the bottom of the sea.
“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 in an Instagram post before departure.
Shortly afterward, the submersible which had a ticket fare of $250,000, went missing.
OceanGate advisor David Concannon said that the sub which was overdue at about 9:13 p.m. Sunday, was likely to have used about a third of its 96-hour oxygen supply by Monday afternoon. He also said that a remotely-operated vehicle will be sent to the site, located at about 12,500 feet beneath the Atlantic.
The U.S. Coast Guard in Boston will head the rescue operation with the assistance of the Canadian Coast Guard and military aircraft. A submarine and sonar buoys have also been deployed in the search.
Harding might have been aware of the heightened risk of the expedition when he wrote, “Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023”.
“A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow”, he added.
The 58-year-old and three-time Guinness World Record breaker is known for his extra quest to travel. He had circumnavigated the earth, had an Antarctic expedition with Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, and flew aboard the fifth human flight of Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket last year.
Amongst his record was the longest time spent at full ocean depth during a dive to the deepest part of the Mariana Trench.
Hamish Harding also worked with a company called White Desert to launch a regular business jet service to the Antarctic. He also partnered with the Indian government to reintroduce eight wild cheetahs from Namibia to India.
Other People Aboard The Missing Titanic Tourist Submersible
Though full details of everyone aboard the 5-seater missing Titanic Tourist submersible have not been released, according to a Facebook post by Harding before the dive started, French explorer Paul-Henry Nargeolet is likely among them.
Stockton Rush, chief executive of OceanGate, is also widely reported to be on the vessel.