The family and friends of British billionaire Hamish Harding have spoken of their hope that he and the other missing explorers will be found in time as they hailed his adventurous spirit.
Friend Jannicke Mikkelsen, a Norwegian explorer, said she knew the 58-year-old would be “calm” amid the crisis but feared the submersible was trapped on the sea bed.
His cousin Kathleen Cosnett told the Daily Telegraph that he was “daring” and “an inquisitive adventurer” and that she was “devastated” to learn that he was on the missing vessel.
Mr Harding holds 16 air speed records including the Guinness record for the fastest aircraft circumnavigation of earth. He has described how his desire for adventure was triggered by watching the Apollo moon landing as a five-year-old.
He made his fortune as the founder and chairman of Action Aviation, which buys and sells business jets. He lives in Dubai with wife Linda and sons Rory, 18, and Giles, 15.
Six years ago he introduced the first business jet flight to Antarctica, using a specially constructed ice runway, while last year he travelled on Blue Origin’s fifth human space flight mission, making him the first Briton to do so and one of only a tiny number of tourists to have crossed the Karman line marking the beginning of space.
His earlier adventures included travelling in 2016 with the Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin, then aged 86, to Antarctica — an expedition which saw Mr Aldrin become the oldest person to reach the South Pole.
Three years ago Mr Harding took his son Giles, then 12, to become the youngest person to reach the South Pole.
His underwater adventures include a 2021 dive to Challenger Deep, the deepest known part of the seabed at 36,000 feet, with US explorer Victor Vescovo. They travelled 2.8 miles along the bottom for a record four hours and 15 minutes.
