A massive search and rescue operation is currently underway for a submarine that went missing in the North Atlantic on June 18 while traveling 2.4 miles undersea to the infamous shipwreck of the Titanic. Hamish Harding, a British billionaire, philanthropist and adventurer, is among the travelers assumed to be trapped on board.
“A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow,” said Harding in an Instagram post on June 17, the day before the submarine began its descent. Known as Titan, the submersible vessel is operated by U.S.-based company OceanGate. Other passengers reportedly include OceanGate’s founder and CEO Stockton Rush, French maritime expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman.
Who is Hamish Harding?
Harding, 58, is the chairman of Dubai-based aircraft operations company Action Aviation and founder of the private equity investment company Action Group. Holding three adventure-related Guinness World Records, he has long combined his explorations of space and sea with charitable causes.
In July 2019, Harding set the world record for the fastest circumnavigation of the earth via the North and South poles through his “One More Orbit” mission. He undertook the 25,000-mile carbon-negative flight in partnership with Carbon Underground, an organization that aims to draw down carbon reductions, to raise awareness for the need of carbon reduction in aviation. After the successful flight, he established a non-profit dedicated to world exploration and science-related education for youth. Harding was also a passenger on a flight of Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin into space in June of 2022, and has a seat reserved on a sub-orbital space flight with Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic.
The explorer set another world record in March of 2021 when he took a submarine to the lowest depth of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean, traveling 2.9 miles along the seafloor for more than four hours in what is the longest duration at full ocean depth by a crewed vessel. Called “Challenger Deep,” the expedition focused on searching for new species and signs of human pollution.
Philanthropy focused on malaria eradication and animal repopulation
In 2020 the aircraft mogul traveled to the South Pole with Prince Ned Nwoko of Nigeria to raise awareness about malaria in Africa. Joined by Harding’s son Giles, who became the youngest person to visit the South Pole at the age of 12, the trio’s journey supported Nwoko’s initiative to eradicate malaria in Africa. Harding’s Action Aviation company and One More Orbit mission also announced their plans to support Nwoko’s foundation with aviation assets. “It’s devastating that malaria kills 500,000 people a year in Africa,” said Harding in an Instagram post after the trip. “There is the need to draw global attention to this monumental health challenge.”
The missing billionaire has additionally used his explorations to help reintroduce previously-extinct animal species to certain regions, taking part in India’s national goal of re-establishing a cheetah population. In September, he helped organize a flight of eight wild cheetahs from Namibia to India, which had declared the animals extinct in 1952. The aircraft used for the flight was sourced by Harding’s company.
The cheetah reintroduction effort was aided in part by the Explorers Club, a society supporting scientific expeditions where Harding is a founding member of its board of trustees. “When I saw Hamish last week at the Global Exploration Summit, his excitement about this expedition was palpable,” said Richard Garriott, president of the Explorers Club, in a statement regarding the disappearance of the Titan. Harding was “looking forward to conducting research at the site,” according to Garriott. “We all join in the fervent hope that the submersible is located as quickly as possible and the crew is safe.”
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