British adventurer among five missing in Titanic tourist submarine expedition

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

A British adventurer has been named as one of five people understood to be missing near the Titanic wreckage after a tourist submersible expedition disappeared.

Hamish Harding, chairman of private plane firm Action Aviation, is thought to be aboard the five-person OceanGate Expeditions vessel after he tweeted he was “proud to finally announce” that he would be aboard the mission to the wreck of the Titanic two days ago on June 17.

The vessel was reported overdue on Sunday evening about 435 miles south of St John’s, Newfoundland. The US Coast Guard is currently leading a search for the vessel which involves military aircraft. Join our WhatsApp Top Stories and Breaking News group by clicking this link In a statement to BBC News, OceanGate Expeditions said they were 'exploring and mobilising all options to bring the crew back safely'. “Our entire focus is on the crew members in the submersible and their families.” In 2021, the company began what it expected to become an annual voyage to chronicle the deterioration of the wreckage of the famous ocean liner, which struck an iceberg and sank in 1912.

At the time, the company said that in addition to archaeologists and marine biologists, the expeditions also would include roughly 40 paying tourists who would take turns operating sonar equipment and performing other tasks in the five-person submersible.