A British billionaire has been named as one of those aboard the submersible that went missing while touring the Titanic wreck.
Hamish Harding is one of the five passengers reported missing earlier today (19 June), his stepson has confirmed.
It was announced this afternoon that a desperate search and rescue mission had been launched after an advanced submersible had vanished during its seven-day tour in the Atlantic Ocean.
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And now, it's been revealed that among those onboard was the tech boss and explorer Harding.
In a post to Facebook, Harding's stepson wrote: "Thoughts and prayers for my stepfather Hamish Harding as his Submarine has gone missing exploring Titanic. Search and rescue mission is underway."
Just yesterday (18 June), Harding, who is the founder of aircraft company Action Aviation, shared a post ahead of his journey.
He said: "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.
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"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 4am tomorrow morning.
"Until then we have a lot of preparations and briefings to do.
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"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."
This comes after the company in charge of the expedition, OceanGate, confirmed that a handful of passengers had disappeared.
In a statement, the company – which can charge tourists as much as $250,000 for an eight-day excursion to the Titanic wreck site – said that it is ‘exploring and mobilising all options’ to get the crew back safely.
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The statement read: “Our entire focus is on the crew members in the submersible and their families.”
They added that ‘extensive assistance’ was being provided by ‘several government agencies and deep sea companies’ in order to find the submarine.
"We are working toward the safe return of the crew members,” the company said.
According to the company's website, the trips are advertised as a ‘chance to step outside of everyday life and discover something truly extraordinary’.
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There are five seats on the submersible, including a pilot and a ‘content expert’ as well as three paying customers.
The dive down to the wreck and back reportedly takes around eight hours.
Earlier today, Boston Coastguard confirmed to the BBC that the submersible was the subject of a search and rescue mission.
The wreck of the ship, which sank in 1912 after hitting an iceberg, is spread over a relatively small area of the sea floor, around 600 kilometers off the coast of Newfoundland.
It sits on the ocean floor at a depth of around 12,500 feet (3,800 meters), and is incredibly difficult to access.
Dominic Smithers