British billionaire Hamish Harding warned that the tourist submersible that has now gone missing would likely be the only manned mission to the Titanic wreckage this year due to the worst winter in 40 years.
Harding is one of the five people on board a missing vessel, named the Titan, and operated by OceanGate Expeditions.
US and Canadian rescuers are trying to locate where the missing submersible is after it vanished on Sunday (18 June) some 435 miles (700km) south of Newfoundland, Canada.
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The vessel lost contact with the research vessel Polar Prince an hour and 45 minutes into the dive, the US Coast Guard said. News of the missing vessel came to light on Monday (19 June).
On Saturday (17 June), Harding announced his participation in OceanGate Expeditions’ RMS Titanic Mission on Instagram.
He touched on the weather situation in Newfoundland and explained that a ‘weather window’ had opened up and the along with the rest of the crew, they planned to attempt a dive the next day.
“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 wrote.
“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 4 a.m. tomorrow morning. Until then we have a lot of preparations and briefings to do."
Harding promised to share more updates as he praised the on board team for being ‘legendary explorers’.
He told his 18.3K followers: “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.”
The post is Harding’s last before the vessel went missing on Sunday morning local time.
Harding's stepson Brian Szasz said on Facebook: "Thoughts and prayers for my stepfather Hamish Harding as his Submarine has gone missing exploring Titanic. Search and rescue mission is underway."
OceanGate said in an Instagram statement on Monday that all options were being explored to rescue the five people onboard.
“Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families,” the firm said. “We are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to [re-establish] contact with the submersible.
“We are working toward the safe return of the crewmembers.”
Gregory Robinson