Who is the missing British billionaire trapped in the Titanic tourist submarine?

Missing British billionaire Hamish Harding holds a Guinness world record for the longest length of stay at the bottom of the sea.

The London-born adventurer set it down in 2021 after diving in a submarine to the deepest place on Earth, the Mariana Trench, and sailing through it for four hours and 15 minutes.

It was one of three world records the 58-year-old has set. He laid down another for the longest distance—three miles—covered at the bottom of the ocean. His first was in 2019, for the fastest circumnavigation of the Earth via the North and South Poles in a Gulfstream 650ER business jet. And last year he went into space.

Before departing on the tourist submarine Titanic, which is now missing, Mr Harding told his social media followers: ‘A weather window has just opened and we are going to try to dive tomorrow.

“We started steaming yesterday from St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada and plan to begin diving operations tomorrow morning around 4am. Until then we have a lot of preparations and briefings to do.’

An aide to Mr Harding revealed last night that the billionaire has wanted to travel for ‘a long time’ – adding that there is still ‘a lot of air’ on board.

Before departing on the tourist submarine Titanic, now missing, Mr Harding told his social media followers: “A weather window has just opened and we are going to try to dive tomorrow.” Pictured: Harding explores the South Pole

The Action Aviation employee said: ‘There is still plenty of air on board and plenty of time for a rescue operation and we are waiting for the authorities to notify us.

“He is the only Action Aviation member on board and we are waiting for updates. This is something Hamish has been looking forward to for a long time.”

The father of two is married to American Linda Dunbar Szasz and they have two sons, a fourteen year old boy named Giles.

The father – who is friends with astronaut Buzz Aldrin – recently said: ‘As a child I regularly read the Guinness World Records book.

“I always wondered how I could get into it. I didn’t think I could. And I didn’t want to do stupid things like set a record for the number of ping pong balls bounced in a day or anything like that.”

As the frantic search for the submarine Titanic went on yesterday, family members asked for prayers for Mr. Harding. The aviator, businessman and explorer is no stranger to dangerous expeditions. He told an interviewer in 2021 how his submarine, Challenger Deep, suffered a damaged thruster while traveling to the “truly spectacular” Mariana Trench, which lies seven miles below the surface of the Pacific Ocean.

He said: “The submarine has many safety features, including a four-day reserve of oxygen, water and emergency rations.

“The only problem is there’s no other submarine that can go there to save you. It will take three years to build another one. So having four days of stock doesn’t really matter. If something goes wrong, you don’t come back.’

An aide to Mr Harding revealed last night that the billionaire has wanted to travel for ‘a long time’ – adding there is still ‘a lot of air’ on board

A social media post from Brian Szasz, Hamish Harding’s stepson

A submarine that took people to the wreck of the Titanic has gone missing in the Atlantic Ocean with its crew on board

Mr Harding, who runs an aviation company in Dubai, also has the honor of taking the oldest man – lunar landing astronaut Mr Aldrin, aged 86 – and the youngest, his 12-year-old son, to the South Pole, saying: Buzz is an old friend of mine. We had always talked about going to the South Pole together and we finally did that in 2016.’

Mr Harding, an only child, was born in Hammersmith, London, in 1964, and holds degrees in science and chemical engineering from Cambridge University.

Last year, he was one of six astronauts to go to space on Blue Origin’s fifth manned spaceflight aboard the New Shepard rocket.

For his next trip – to the North Pole two months before he goes into space – he said: ‘People, especially as they get older, tend to give up on their dreams.

“When I think of something unusual, I just try to find ways to make it happen.”

This is the latest sighting of the submarine Titan, which launched on Sunday. It can be seen in a photo shared by Mr. Harding’s company

OceanGate Expeditions is one of the few companies that offers the tours. Tickets cost up to $250,000