A West Country billionaire adventurer was one of five people on board a submarine that has gone missing on Titanic submarine. The vessel disappeared while descending more than 12,000 feet under the North Atlantic ocean to visit the wreck of the Titanic.
Hamish Harding, a former pupil of The King's School in Gloucester, was on the submarine which rescue teams are now racing to find. Crews have reportedly detected intermittent “banging” noises from the vicinity of the last known location of the divers, reports Gloucestershire Live.
There is less than three days of oxygen likely left on the submersible tourist vessel, which is thought to have gone missing off the coast of Newfoundland shortly into its roughly £200,000 per ticket Titanic voyage. Rescue crews and the Canadian Navy and US Air Force are currently searching a 900 mile area for the 6.7 metre submersible, which contains one pilot and four passengers, including Hamish Harding.
READ MORE: Who is missing British billionaire Hamish Harding?
The Guinness World Record-winning adventurer attended King's School from 1975 to 1982, before studying at Cambridge for an undergraduate and postgraduate degree and eventually becoming the chair of Action Aviation, which sells private jets and helicopters to the mega-rich. Mr Harding began studying at the Gloucester private school in 1975 after his family moved to the UK from Hong Kong.
The Gloucester-educated billionaire holds three world records, one for fastest pole-to-pole flight, another for longest distance travelled deep under the ocean, and yet another for the longest period of time spent at full ocean depth.
8.30pm update on Tuesday, June 20
The five people aboard a submersible that went missing during a dive to the wreck of the Titanic have approximately 40 hours of breathable air left, the US Coast Guard has said. Captain Jamie Frederick, of the US Coast Guard, said there were around 40 hours of breathable air left aboard the submersible, named Titan, which lost communication with tour operators on Sunday while about 435 miles south of St John’s, Newfoundland, during a voyage to the Titanic shipwreck off the coast of Canada.
Rescuers are in a race against time to find British billionaire Hamish Harding and four other passengers on board the 6.7 metres (22ft) long OceanGate Expeditions vessel. They are UK-based businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, reportedly together with French submersible pilot Paul-Henry Nargeolet. On Tuesday, OceanGate confirmed that its chief executive and founder Stockton Rush “is aboard the submersible as a member of the crew”.
Captain Frederick was non-committal when asked if there is any way to retrieve the submersible and save the five on board if it can be located. “So, right now all of our efforts are focused on finding the sub,” he said.
What we know so far
Private plane firm Action Aviation said its British chairman Hamish Harding is one of the mission specialists on the five-person OceanGate Expeditions vessel, which is 6.7 metres long (22ft).
UK-based businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Sulaiman Dawood have also been named in a family statement as two of the other people on board the “very tiny” craft. French submersible pilot Paul-Henry Nargeolet and chief executive and founder of OceanGate Expeditions Stockton Rush are also on the vessel, according to reports.
The US Coast Guard is leading search efforts and Rear Admiral John W Mauger estimated there was 70 to 96 hours left at a press conference held just before 5pm Boston time (10pm UK time) on Monday.
A statement from the Dawood Family, obtained by CNN, said: “As of now, contact has been lost with their submersible craft and there is limited information available.
“We are very grateful for the concern being shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to request everyone to pray for their safety while granting the family privacy at this time. The family is well looked after and are praying to Allah for the safe return of their family members.”
Mr Dawood is the vice chairman of Pakistani conglomerate Engro Corporation, which was founded as a fertiliser business, and, according to the company’s website, a board member of the King’s charity, Prince’s Trust International. It is understood the Dawood family, who live in Surbiton, south-west London, are in Canada for a month.
The search and rescue operation, involving military aircraft 900 miles east of Cape Cod, was continuing on Tuesday.
The US Coast Guard said the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince and 106 Rescue wing will continue to conduct surface searches alongside two US C-130 flights.
Historian Tim Maltin, an expert on the history of the Titanic, told BBC Breakfast on Tuesday that he is “very worried about the souls” on board the missing vessel. Mike Reiss, a writer who took the Titanic submersible trip last year, said he is “not optimistic” over the search because he knows how “vast” the ocean is and how “very tiny” the craft is.
Mr Mauger said on Monday they are doing “everything” they can to find the submersible, saying it has one pilot and four mission specialists aboard with up to 96 hours of emergency oxygen.
“We anticipate that there’s somewhere between 70 to the full 96 hours at this point,” he said. “It is a remote area and a challenge, but we are deploying all available assets.”
He said additional resources would arrive in the coming days. Mark Butler, managing director of Action Aviation, said: “There is still plenty of time to facilitate a rescue mission, there is equipment on board for survival in this event. We’re all hoping and praying he comes back safe and sound.”
Mr Harding holds three Guinness World Records, including the longest duration at full ocean depth by a crewed vessel when, in March 2021, he and ocean explorer Victor Vescovo dived to the lowest depth of the Mariana Trench. In June 2022, he went into space on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket.
His cousin, Kathleen Cosnett, told The Daily Telegraph she saw Mr Harding as “daring” and “inquisitive”, and that she was “devastated” to learn he was missing. On social media at the weekend, he said he was “proud to finally announce” he would be aboard the mission to the wreck of the Titanic, the luxury ocean liner which hit an iceberg and sank in 1912, killing more than 1,500 people.
Tour operator White Desert Antarctica, with whom Mr Harding has travelled, said all at the company are “praying” that those missing are found safe and well. Founder Patrick Woodhead said: “We have faith in the incredible emergency services now focused on finding the sub in the area around the Titanic.
“Hamish has been a true friend to White Desert for many years and is an incredible aviation explorer in his own right. He has travelled with us to Antarctica a number of times, including with astronaut Buzz Aldrin when he visited.”
The Explorers’ Club, of which Mr Harding is a founding member, shared the news of his disappearance on Instagram, with club president Richard Garriot saying: “When I saw Hamish last week… his excitement about this expedition was palpable,” he said.
“I know he was looking forward to conducting research at the site. We all join in the fervent hope that the submersible is located as quickly as possible and the crew is safe.”
OceanGate Expeditions said its focus was on those aboard the vessel and their families. “We are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to re-establish contact with the submersible,” the company said in a statement.
“We are working toward the safe return of the crew members.”
A court document filed by OceanGate in the US in April states that the submersible, named Titan, can dive to 13,120ft “with a comfortable safety margin”, Associated Press reported on Monday.
Titan weighs 20,000lb, is made of “titanium and filament wound carbon fibre” and has proven to “withstand the enormous pressures of the deep ocean”, OceanGate reportedly said.
The submersible was taking part in OceanGate’s third annual voyage to monitor the decay of the ship’s wreckage, following expeditions in 2021 and 2022.
