Who was Hamish Harding, the British billionaire who died on Titanic submersible?

A passionate British explorer, Hamish Harding was among those who died after goingon a submersible that was diving into the wreck of Titanic. The three-times Guinness World Record holder was aboard with four other persons on the OceanGate Expeditions vessel for its Titanic mission this week.

Over the weekend, Harding shared the status of his mission via social media. He shared that a ship had set off from the city of St John’s, in Newfoundland, Canada, for the destination of the Titanic wreck.

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After reaching there, he with his crew planned to start diving operations in the submersible down to the wreck at around 4:00 local time (8:00 GMT) on Sunday morning.

He wrote on his Facebook that he was “proud to finally announce” that this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the wreck of Titanic in 2023.

“A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow,” he wrote further.

Apart from Harding, one of Pakistan’s richest men and his teenage son were also among the five people in the submarine that set off for the wreck of the Titanic before losing all communication.

Shahzada Dawood, a UK-based board member of the Prince’s Trust Charity and his son Suleman Dawood were on board the tiny underwater craft taking tourists to view the famous wreck 12,500 feet underwater.

Who was Hamish Harding? An explorer, adventurer, and multiple Guinness World Record holder

Hamish Harding was a UAE-based British businessman whose life was not just limited to business. He was also a pilot, a space tourist and a three-time Guinness World Record holder. He was the founder of Action Group and chairman of Action Aviation, an international aircraft brokerage company with headquarters in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

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In 2017, Harding worked with the Antarctic VIP tourism company, White Desert, to introduce the first regular business jet service to the Antarctic using a Gulfstream G550, landing on Wolfsfang Runway, a newly-created ice in Antarctica.

The many expeditions of Harding

Harding also visited the South Pole a couple of times, accompanying Buzz Aldrin in 2016. He became the oldest person ever to reach the South Pole, aged 86.

In 2019, to honour the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, he led a team of aviators with astronaut Col. Terry Virts to circumnavigate the earth via the North and South poles. He completed this expedition in 46 hours and 40 minutes and was awarded the Guinness World Record.

On 5 March 2021, Harding and Victor Vescovo dived to the deepest point in the Mariana Trench, the Challenger Deep, in a two-man submarine. He reached the lowest point in the world’s deepest ocean at a depth of 36,000 feet. Here as well, he set the world record for the greatest length covered at full ocean depth and the greatest time spent at full ocean depth.

Harding’s world records

2019 - The fastest circumnavigation of the Earth via both poles

2021 - Greatest Distance Covered At Full Ocean Depth

2021 - Greatest Duration Spent At Full Ocean Depth

Missing Titanic submersible

The submersible went missing on Sunday in the Atlantic, some 435 miles south of Newfoundland, Canada. The Titan or Titanic submersible is a research and survey submersible that can carry up to five people, a pilot and four ‘mission specialists'.

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The submersible craft along with a ship ferried off people to the North Atlantic wreck site, where the Titan was scheduled to make multiple dives.

As per a report in the BBC, Rear Adm Mauger of the Coast Guard confirmed that all five people aboard Titan were killed following what was probably a "catastrophic implosion", based on patterns of debris discovered.

(With inputs from agencies)

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