Who is Hamish Harding? British expat in Dubai missing on board Titanic-exploring sub

A UAE expat for 15 years, British adventurer Hamish Harding, is reported to be one of the individuals on board a submarine that has gone missing near the site of the Titanic wreckage.

Currently, the US Coast Guard in Boston is taking the lead in coordinating rescue operations, supported by the Canadian Coast Guard and military aircraft.

The vessel, called OceanGate Expeditions, which carried five crew, was reported as overdue on Sunday evening, approximately 435 miles south of St John's, Newfoundland.

Speaking to Khaleej Times about this latest expedition last year, Hamish Harding had said, "I've been lucky enough to get another opportunity to dive to the Titanic, which sank in 1912 when it hit the iceberg and split into two as it sank. I'll be fortunate enough to go down the submarine, explore the Titanic, and see what's left of it over 100 years later."

Who is Hamish Harding?

58-year-old Harding is the chairman of Action Aviation, an international aircraft brokerage company with headquarters in Dubai, UAE.

Harding is an accomplished aviator, holding an airline transport pilot's license and business jet type ratings, including the Gulfstream G650.

He serves as a trustee of the Explorers Club. In 2017, he collaborated with the Antarctic VIP tourism company White Desert to establish the first regular business jet service to Antarctica. He landed on Wolfsfang Runway, a newly created ice runway in Antarctica.

Expeditions and accomplishments

Harding is also an avid skydiver and was honoured with induction into the Living Legends of Aviation in 2022. He holds three Guinness World Records related to his adventurous endeavours.

In 2022, he ventured into space with Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin company. After his return from the flight, he recalled his journey as a space tourist to Khaleej Times. He shared his experience of looking down on the Earth from the darkness of space which proved to be one of the most riveting experiences for him.

Talking about his unique perspective of our home planet, Harding had said he had spoken to several astronauts before his maiden space flight, and their experiences resonated with his.

"Zero G is great fun, of course, up in space. But looking down on the Earth was absolutely spectacular…all the astronauts had said this to me before I did that flight… looking down on our planet from space is an incredible sight. You do see the world as a sphere. And you see a small atmosphere that is blue below you. But above you, the sky insofar as in space, is all black.There's absolutely no blueness about the sky once you are outside the atmosphere. Even though the Sun is up, we were on the side of the planet that had the Sun. So, the Sun was very bright as we looked towards it, but anywhere else in the sky was totally black, which is a definition of space. Once you are way outside the atmosphere, there is no refraction of light to make it look blue at all. And down below. There's the small layer of atmosphere."

Earlier, in 2021, Harding had achieved two world records. He covered the greatest distance at full ocean depth and spent the longest duration at full ocean depth. Alongside Victor Vescovo, he descended in a two-person submarine to the deepest point of the Mariana Trench, known as the Challenger Deep, which reaches a depth of approximately 36,000 feet. The underwater mission lasted 13 hours, with four hours and 15 minutes spent at full ocean depth, covering a distance of 4.6 kilometres.

In 2019, he received recognition for completing the fastest circumnavigation of the Earth via both poles. As the leader of a team comprising eight astronauts and aviators aboard a Qatar executive Gulfstream G650ER ultra-long-range business jet, he accomplished this feat in 46 hours, 40 minutes, and 22 seconds.

• Submarine exploring Titanic wreck missing, search underway