British businessman who flew to space feared missing on Titanic sub at bottom of Atlantic

Wealthy British businessman Hamish Harding, 59, is feared to be among five people missing on a submersible vessel that was visiting the wreckage of the Titanic.

Mr Harding, the founder of Dubai-based aircraft sales firm Action Aviation, had said in a Facebook post on Saturday that he was due to serve “as a mission specialist on the sub going down to the Titanic“.

He said that poor weather conditions had put the journey at risk, adding: “A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow [Sunday]. Until then we have a lot of preparations and briefings to do.”

The Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia said the OceanGate Expeditions vessel was reported overdue around 9.13pm local time on Sunday after failing to surface after the eight-hour round trip.

After the vessel was confirmed missing, a Facebook post from Mr Harding’s stepson said: “Thoughts and prayers for my stepfather Hamish Harding as his [sub] has gone missing exploring Titanic. Search and rescue mission is underway.” He later deleted the post, appealing for privacy for the family.

Mr Harding is a seasoned adventure traveller who flew to space last on board a rocket launched by Jeff Bezos‘s Blue Origin.

Related Article

He is not new to the world of deep-sea explorations, having visited the Mariana Trench’s Challenger Deep, the deepest known point of the seabed on Earth, on a similar vessel in 2021 alongside explorer Victor Vescovo.

In a 2021 interview with Dubai’s Khaleej Times about the Challenger Deep journey, Mr Harding had explained: “It’s a very hostile environment, the pressure is phenomenal down there. This submersible, which is really only the size of a large car, had 100,000 tonnes of force on it. The pressure is immense. That’s equivalent to 300 jumbo jets sitting on this small pressure vessel.

“There are limitations to how long you can stay there, because it’s a very hostile environment and the batteries are running down. The whole time you’re kept alive by battery power, so there’s a limitation to how far you can go and how long you can stay down there.”

Fears grow for pioneering founder of submersible firm

Stockton Rush, the founder of OceanGate, is also feared to be on board, according to Sky News.

An avid scuba diver since aged 12, Mr Rush first held aspirations to be astronaut, pursuing an aerospace degree from Princeton.

However, he was forced to abandon his galactic ambitions after learning his eyesight did not meet the US air force’s strict requirements.

Following a lucrative career in investment banking, Mr Rush had a lightbulb moment while attending the launch of Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic – the first commercial space flight company.

If there is a market for space travel, he thought, surely one also exists for its aquatic equivalent.

Mr Rush established OceanGate in 2009, developing a small fleet of submersibles capable of reaching depths previously visited exclusively by government vessels.

“In the vacuum of space, by definition there is nothing. That means a great view, but the final frontier for new life forms and discovery is undersea – for the next 200 to 300 years at least,” he told The Independent in 2017.

OceanGate focused on famous wreckages, first offering visits to the Andrea Doria and SS Governor, before turning its attention to the Titanic.

In 2021, the company launched its first annual voyage to chronicle the deterioration of the ocean liner, charging in the region of £100,00 per person.

Speaking to Sky News in February, Mr Rush outlined his latest frontier breaching ambition – to send a small exploratory robot inside the ship.

He said it was crucial that each mission has scientific goals, with each passenger contributing towards them.

“We believe that it makes for a life-changing and meaningful experience to be part of a team doing something of meaning that’s so unique. It’s a travesty, we think, to just go and look and come back up,” he said.

By Euan O’Byrne Mulligan