Global Courant
Hamish Harding, one of the five passengers aboard the missing Titanic, belongs to an international community of adventurers that includes Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, famed astronaut Buzz Aldrin and veteran explorer Josh Gates.
A British millionaire, known for his exploratory escapades around the world, Harding is a founding member of The Explorers Club’s Board of Trustees. He lives in Dubai and is also the president of the Middle East Chapter of the club.
FILE: In this photo from Blue Origin, NS-21 (New Shepard-21), astronaut Hamish Harding receives his Blue Origin astronaut pin after a successful flight to space on June 4, 2022 in Van Horn, Texas. (Felix Kunze/Blue Origin via AP)
According to its website, the Explorers Club “supports scientific expeditions of all disciplines and has united our members in the bonds of good camaraderie for more than a century.”
The president of the club, Richard Garriott de Cayeux, written online that he had spoken with Hamish at the Global Exploration Summit last week and that his excitement about the upcoming expedition was “palpable”.
‘SCARED’ SOUNDS CONFIRMED IN DESPERATE SEA SEARCH FOR MISSING TITAN SUB BUT SOURCE UNKNOWN
“I know he was looking forward to researching the site,” said Garriott de Cayeux. “We all hope that the submarine is located as soon as possible and that the crew is safe.”
Harding, 58, is known for his big travel ambitions, with a resume that includes a record-breaking circumnavigation of the Earth, an Antarctic expedition with Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin and a place aboard the fifth human flight of Blue Origin’s New Shepard- rocket last year.
Jannicke Mikkelsen and missing Titanic submarine passenger Hamish Harding. (Fox & Friends/Screengrab)
Fellow Explorers Club member Jeff Gates, a TV series host, revealed on Twitter on Wednesday that the missing OceanGate submarine “didn’t perform well” when he dived aboard the ship himself.
Other passengers aboard the missing submarine include French explorer and Titanic expert Paul-Henry Nargeolet, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, Pakistani billionaire Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman.
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Rescuers on Wednesday brought more ships and craft to the area where a submarine disappeared en route to the Titanic’s wreckage, hoping that underwater noises they discovered for a second consecutive day could limit their search in an increasingly urgent mission.
The pilot of a Royal Canadian Air Force CP-140 Aurora maritime surveillance aircraft of 14 Wing flies a search pattern for the missing OceanGate submarine, which had five people on board to explore the wreck of the sunken SS Titanic, in the Atlantic Ocean at Newfoundland, Canada, June 20, 2023, in a still image from a video. (Canadian Forces/Handout via REUTERS)
Crews searched an area twice the size of Connecticut in waters 2 1/2 miles deep, said First Coast Guard District Captain Jamie Frederick, who noted authorities still hope to find the five passengers aboard the Titan. to rescue.
“This is a search and rescue mission, 100%,” he said. “…We will continue to use whatever available resources we have to find the Titan and its crew members.”
This image from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution shows the bow of the Titanic 12,500 feet (3.8 kilometers) below the ocean’s surface, 400 miles (640 kilometers) off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada in 1986. Rare and in some cases never before publicly seen video of the dive will be released on Wednesday, February 15, 2023, by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution via AP)
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But even those optimistic warned that many obstacles remain: from locating the ship’s location, to reaching it with rescue equipment, to bringing it to the surface — assuming it’s still intact. And all of that must happen before the passengers’ oxygen supply runs out, which some say could happen as early as Thursday morning.
Michael Ruiz of Fox News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Bradford Betz is a Fox News Digital breaking reporter covering crime, political issues and much more.
