Hamish Harding, the British billionaire onboard missing Titanic sub, has an extreme love for extreme tourism

One of the voyagers missing in the disappearance of the OceanGate submersible is Hamish Harding. His Twitter bio suggests that he is a Dubai-based-British billionaire and the chairman of aviation consultancy Action Aviation, which works towards offering a range of services to the aviation industry. The company is also involved in buying and selling chartered planes.

 

However, a scroll down his feed shows that Harding is an adventurer and boundary-pusher, with posts on space exploration, cheetah reintroduction in India and Antarctic expeditions. His passion for aviation and space exploration began at a young age, inspired by the Apollo moon landing.

Hamish, has done it all, from exploring the depths of the Mariana Trench to the vastness of space. With his accomplishments and numerous records, he has had a remarkable journey as an adventure seeker.

A record-breaking aviator

• Hamish Harding, a Cambridge-trained jet pilot, holds an impressive 16 air speed record, including the Guinness world record for the fastest circumnavigation of the Earth via the North and South Poles by an aircraft.

• In 2020, he along with Colonel Terry Virts embarked on a remarkable mission called "One More Orbit". Piloting a Gulfstream G650ER, Harding aimed to break the speed record for flying around the world via both poles, while commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
• Their epic journey covered over 48,000 kilometres in just over 46 hours, setting a new record. Talk about epic!

Into space

• Last year, Hamish became the first Briton to embark on Blue Origin's fifth human spaceflight mission, crossing the Karman Line (around 100 km above the earth's surface) that marks the beginning of space; making him among a select few tourists to have left the Earth.

Antarctic expeditions

• In 2016, Hamish joined the Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin on an expedition to Antarctica. The remarkable journey saw Aldrin, 86, become the oldest person to reach the South Pole.
• In a subsequent expedition four years later, Hamish returned with his son Giles, who, at the age of 12, became the youngest person to reach the South Pole.

Exploring the depths of the oceans

• Teaming up with American investor and explorer Victor Vescovo, Hamish descended to the Challenger Deep, the deepest point on the Earth, located approximately 10,900 metres below sea level.

• Spending an unprecedented 4 hours and 15 minutes inside a submersible below the surface, they covered 4.5 kilometres along the ocean bed, setting new records for exploration.

Recognition and leadership

• Hamish's remarkable achievements have earned him numerous accolades too.
• In 2020, he was honoured with a Living Legends of Aviation award by Morgan Freeman, joining the esteemed club of Buzz Aldrin, Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk.
• He also serves as the chairman of the Middle East chapter of the Explorers Club, an organisation dedicated to advancing exploration.

ALSO READ: The missing Titanic hunting submarine was steered by an Xbox controller. Yes, for real

Hamish Harding is among the five people onboard the OceanGate-owned Titanic submersible that lost contact with its mothership, the Polar Prince, on June 18. US and Canada have joined forces to comb the North Atlantic to find the submersible, in a race against time.