Captain Hamish Harding posted to Instagram on Saturday about the now missing submarine exploring the RMS Titanic and how this may be the only manned mission in 2023 due to the “worst winter” in 40 years.
OceanGate Expeditions confirmed to CBS News that its submersible is the subject of a search and rescue mission. A U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson told The Guardian that five people were on board the vessel when it went missing. Newsweek reached out to the USCG for comment.
The Marine Traffic website reported that three tugboats from a port in St. John’s, Newfoundland, were headed to the Titanic site, which is about 370 miles off the Canadian coast. The Canadian Coast Guard referred Newsweek to the USGC’s Boston Rescue Coordination Center for comment.
RMS Titanic Team Expedition 2004, ROI, IFE, NOAA-OE
“I am proud to finally announce that I joined @oceangateexped for their RMS TITANIC Mission as a mission specialist on the sub going down to the Titanic,” Harding said in his Instagram post.
“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. 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,” he wrote.
“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!”
Harding is the chair of the private plane firm Action Aviation and in his Instagram bio he says he “buy[s] and sell[s] business jets.” Harding is also a skydiver, was inducted into the Living Legends of Aviation in 2022 and is a trustee of the Explorers Club, according to The Guardian.
Harding has made many trips to the South Pole, including with astronaut Buzz Aldrin in 2016, who became the oldest person to reach the South Pole at 86. He also went into space last year with Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin company.
The Titanic was the world’s largest ship when it sank on April 15, 1912, after hitting an iceberg during its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City. Of the roughly 2,200 passengers and crew members on board, more than 1,500 died.
The passenger liner, which wasn’t discovered until 1985, lies in two parts at 12,500 feet below sea level. Last month, the first full-sized digital scan of the wreck provided viewers with a 3D view of the ship using deep-sea mapping.
For $250,000, OceanGate Expeditions offers tourists the opportunity to “become one of the few to see the Titanic with your own eyes” with an eight-day trip, according to its website. The expedition to the Titanic wreckage was planned from June 12 to June 30.
