A British billionaire explorer and a renowned French diver are feared to be on board the missing Titanic tourist submarine somewhere in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean.
Hamish Harding, who has previously travelled on the Challenger Deep to the bottom of the ocean and on Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin into space, took to Facebook on Saturday to announce that he was joining OceanGate Expeditions for its Titanic mission this week.
Also on the submarine is French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, CBC News was told by Titanic expert Larry Daley. Mr Nargolet spent 25 years in the French navy and worked with Mr Daley, who is a St John’s-based diver, on his first Titanic dive 20 years ago.
“I am proud to finally announce that I joined OceanGate Expeditions for their RMS TITANIC Mission as a mission specialist on the sub going down to the Titanic. Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023,” Mr Harding wrote, alongside an image of him signing a card reading Titanic Mission V.
“A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow. We started steaming from St Johns, Newfoundland, Canada yesterday and are planning to start dive operations around 4am tomorrow morning. Until then we have a lot of preparations and briefings to do.
“The team on the sub has a couple of legendary explorers, some of which have done over 30 dives to the RMS Titanic since the 1980s including PH Nargeolet. More expedition updates to follow IF the weather holds!”
He has not posted online since.
On Monday – as news of the missing submersible broke – Mr Harding’s stepson Brian Szasz confirmed that his stepfather was on board the vessel when it went missing.
“Hamish Harding, my step father, has gone missing on submarine. Thoughts and prayers,” he wrote on Facebook, sharing family photos and articles.
“Thoughts and prayers for my Mom and Hamish Harding,” he added.
In a follow-up post, he added: “Thoughts and prayers for my stepfather Hamish Harding as his submarine has gone missing exploring Titanic. Search and rescue mission is underway.”
Hamish Harding posted about his plans to travel to see the Titanic wreckage two days before the sub went missing
(Facebook/Hamish Harding)
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