Latest news with #HamishHarding
The National
5 days ago
- The National
Titan sub implosion: Dubai businessman's death was preventable, report finds
The death of five people caused by an implosion on board the Titan submersible's voyage to the Titanic shipwreck could have been avoided, according to a new report. Hamish Harding was among a crew of five on board the Titan submersible when tragedy struck in June 2023. It was later confirmed that the vessel had imploded at a depth of about 4,000 metres (more than 13,000ft). The US Coast Guard said at the time the Titan, belonging to tour company OceanGate, probably suffered a 'catastrophic implosion' in the North Atlantic waters and there were no survivors. A report released on Tuesday following a US Coast Guard investigation found the vessel's safety culture and operational practices 'critically flawed". Mr Harding, a British billionaire, died along with Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, French navy pilot Paul-Henry Nargeolet and the boss of tour company OceanGate, Stockton Rush. Mark Butler, chief executive of Action Aviation - the company Mr Harding founded - told The National that he was 'appalled by the contents of the report, but not shocked'. 'It was very evident from the early stages of the investigation, now confirmed by the published report, that Mr Rush had been trying to run his company on a shoestring, cutting corners, and paying little attention to basic safety and best practices,' he said in a statement. 'His negligence and appalling behaviour have caused the death of Hamish Harding and the other passengers on board the Titan submersible. 'The loss of Hamish has been horrific for both the family and for all of us at Action Aviation. He was one of a kind, a wonderful father, and an amazing businessman. We hope that others will learn from this incident and not repeat the selfish and senseless actions of Mr Rush and his company.' Mr Butler joined Action Aviation in 2008 as managing director and took over the business after Mr Harding's death. The accident was preventable, according to the chairman of the US Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation, Jason Neubauer. 'This marine casualty and the loss of five lives was preventable,' said Mr Neubauer, in a statement released along with the findings of the report. 'The two-year investigation has identified multiple contributing factors that led to this tragedy, providing valuable lessons learned to prevent a future occurrence. "There is a need for stronger oversight and clear options for operators who are exploring new concepts outside of the existing regulatory framework." The board determined the primary contributing factors were OceanGate's inadequate design, certification, maintenance and inspection process for the Titan, the statement added. The board also found OceanGate failed to sufficiently investigate and address known hull anomalies following its Titanic expedition in 2022. Investigators said the Titan's real-time monitoring system generated data that should have been analysed and acted on during the 2022 Titanic expedition. However, OceanGate did not take any action related to the data, conduct any preventative maintenance or properly store the Titan during the extended off-season before its 2023 Titanic expedition, the report stated. Who was Hamish Harding? The UAE-based businessman was married with two children and holds three Guinness World Records. They include the longest time spent traversing the deepest part of the ocean – the Mariana Trench – on a single dive, and the fastest navigation of Earth through the North and South Poles by plane. In 2021, Mr Harding dived in a two-man submarine mission lasting 36 hours to Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench with American explorer Victor Vescovo, breaking records by traversing the deepest part of the ocean for four hours and 15 minutes and travelling 4.6km along the sea floor. In a post on Facebook to mark the five-month anniversary of the dive, Mr Harding said: 'Can't believe it's been that long already but absolutely can't wait for our next mission/journey/adventure!' Mr Harding's fastest circumnavigation through both poles took 46 hours and 40 minutes and was done in July 2019. He was the pilot and director of the mission, which marked the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, according to the Living Legends of Aviation. But Mr Harding had made more than one trip to the South Pole. The awards body said that in 2016 he accompanied Mr Aldrin – who became the oldest person to reach the South Pole aged 86 – and took his son Giles in 2020, who became the youngest person to reach the South Pole aged 12. His other Guinness World Record was for the longest distance travelled along the deepest part of the ocean – 4.634km, which he did during the Mariana Trench dive in 2021. The following year, in June 2022, Mr Harding flew to space as part of the fifth human space flight run by Jeff Bezos's company Blue Origin. Later that year, the adventurer won his Living Legends of Aviation award, which he described as an 'honour' in his acceptance speech before thanking his wife and two sons as well as his 'very loving, very beautiful, very loyal' golden retrievers. The billionaire, who was 58, had called the UAE his home since 2008. Mr Harding wrote in a post on Instagram on June 18 that this was likely to be the only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023, 'due to the worst weather in Newfoundland in 40 years'.
CBC
6 days ago
- CBC
Voices call for justice, change after release of Titan implosion report
Family, friends, investigators and explorers say they're appalled and heartbroken, and are calling for accountability and justice after the United States Coast Guard released its final report on the implosion of the Titan submersible on Tuesday. The coast guard's Marine Board of Investigation report landed two years after OceanGate's Titan imploded while diving to the site of the Titanic wreck, killing all five people on board. The 335-page document outlines many problems with the company's operation, the integrity of the vessel and what led to the fatal incident in 2023. Hamish Harding, father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood, Paul-Henri Nargeolet and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush were the crew members. The company suspended operations in July 2023. OceanGate spokesperson Christian Hammond told the Associated Press the company has been winding down, and was co-operating with the investigation. 'Not shocked' Harding was the chairman of Action Aviation. The company expressed its outrage over what the report revealed. "We are obviously appalled by the contents of the investigation report, but not shocked," Mark Butler, CEO of Action Aviation, said in a statement to CBC News. "It was very evident from the early stages of the investigation, now confirmed by the published report, that Mr. Rush had been trying to run his company on a shoestring, cutting corners, and paying little attention to basic safety and best practices." Butler took over for Harding after his death. He called Rush and his company's actions "selfish and senseless." Butler said Harding's family have no plans to comment at this time. WATCH | U.S. Coast Guard releases damning report on Titan implosion: U.S. Coast Guard releases damning report 2 years after Titan implosion 2 days ago Two years after the fatal Titan submersible implosion, the United States Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation has released its report on the disaster. As the CBC's Mark Quinn reports, it says the five deaths were completely preventable. The family of Shahzada and Suleman Dawood also weighed in on the report's findings. In a statement to CBC News, the family said the report confirms that "unregulated behaviour, a lack of accountability and a fundamentally flawed design" caused the tragedy. But, it won't bring back what they've lost. "No report can alter the heartbreaking outcome, nor fill the immeasurable void left by two cherished members of our family," the statement reads. The Dawood family also called for regulatory reform within the submersible industry. "We believe that accountability and regulatory change must follow such a catastrophic failure. We hope this tragedy serves as a turning point and one that drives meaningful reform, rigorous safety standards, and effective oversight within the submersible industry," the statement reads. "If Shahzada and Suleman's legacy can be a catalyst for regulatory change that helps prevent such a loss from ever happening again, it will bring us some measure of peace." The Shaheed Suleman Dawood Mosque now stands in St. John's, made possible by a donation from Hussain Dawood, father and grandfather of the deceased. Suleman Dawood was the Titan's youngest passenger. He was 19 years old. 'There were really no checks and balances' The family of renowned French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet also expressed their desire for justice — beyond the report's findings. "We also believe there are more entities legally responsible that weren't focused upon given how egregious OceanGate's conduct was," said Tony Buzzbee, the attorney representing Paul-Henri Nargeolet's estate, in a statement to CBC News. "We look forward now to continuing our efforts in court to obtain justice for the family." Jason Neubauer, chair of the Marine Board of Investigation for Titan implosion, said OceanGate's workplace culture and failure to prioritize safety were key factors in the tragedy. "OceanGate's culture was one of the worst, from a safety perspective, and it stems from a lot of different reasons," Neubauer said in an interview with CBC News. "But the primary was that you had the head of the company, the CEO, serving in so many different roles." In the MBI report, Rush's relationship to the vessel is stated as chief pilot, chief executive officer and secretary of OceanGate's board of directors. "He was a consolidation of power into one individual, and there were really no checks and balances," said Neubauer. If the CEO were still alive, Neubauer said MBI would recommend that a separate criminal investigation be opened for manslaughter. "There was negligence involved there, not only from not complying with any of the regulatory standards and certifications and testing, but also for a failure to maintain the vessel with any standard of care," he said. "There's negligence that would absolutely constitute a referral to the Department of Justice for a separate investigation." Neubauer said the company failed to follow through with safety systems put in place, disregarding safety data, even though "warnings were there" from the 2022 operating season. He also noted his surprise at the level of cost-cutting that occurred in OceanGate's operations. "They downgraded the size of the support vessel so that the Titan had to be towed thousands of miles," said Neubauer. The submersible was also stored outside over the winter in St. John's. "That should have never occurred for a carbon fibre craft that is susceptible to porosity and moisture. Those things stand out," said Neubauer. The future of submersible exploration Larry Daley, Titanic expedition specialist, visited the Titanic wreck in a submersible himself in 2003, and considered Nargeolet a close friend. To him, the report revealed that the tragedy was one that could have been avoided. "I knew in my heart and soul this was going to end poorly," Daley told CBC News. Daley said expeditions to the Titanic should continue, but safety should be a priority. "Exploration is good. It'll keep going on for years. But you got to separate the fame from the fortune," Daley said. "It all comes down to doing it safely and having the right equipment." Neubauer said the Titan, in his view, is a good case for regulatory change at an international level. Involving multiple nations and occurring on the high seas, he says it's one the International Maritime Organization could look at. "In regard to submersible standards right now, they're recommendatory. We're going to recommend that they be mandatory just in case you have a situation like this," he said.
Travel Weekly
6 days ago
- General
- Travel Weekly
Putting OceanGate to rest?
Arnie Weissmann I've written before about my tangential relationship with the OceanGate tragedy: I was set to dive in the submersible Titan three weeks prior to its implosion, but the dives were canceled due to bad weather. Nonetheless, I spent a week on the mother ship with a ringside view of the OceanGate operation. I got to know CEO Stockton Rush, French wreck diver Paul-Henri "P.H." Nargeolet, OceanGate staff, volunteers and my fellow "mission specialists" who were hoping to dive to see the ruins of the Titanic. Additionally, I was an acquaintance of Hamish Harding, a passenger who perished in the implosion. I had spent time with him just days before the catastrophe. I wrote a three-part series in Travel Weekly during the time of the intense search for the missing submersible. In it, I noted that Rush had told me that the carbon fiber used in the hull of the Titan had been purchased at a discount because it was past its use-by date for commercial aviation. Now that the U.S. Coast Guard has come out with the results of its investigation of the calamity, a lot of questions are officially put to rest. But it would be disingenuous for me to say that it's put the OceanGate saga to rest for me; days may go by that I don't think about it, but not many weeks do. On the day that the remains of the Titan were found, I started getting calls from news organizations. Most were focused on the expired carbon fiber. The next morning, CNN sent a crew to interview me for a documentary that it was making live from St. John's, Newfoundland. Ultimately, I was quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and scores of media outlets here and abroad that ran the two Associated Press stories I appeared in. A Reddit thread based on the Travel Weekly stories appeared, and others made YouTube mini-documentaries, some very conspiracy-minded, based on my writing. People on Reddit were generally less snarky than comments under other stories; one Washington Post reader called me out as being luckier than smart. I can't argue with that. The CNN documentary led to calls from others hoping to make a documentary on the topic. Some were producers asking that I speak to them exclusively as part of their pitch to find an outlet. Netflix called me when I was on an icebreaker en route to the North Pole. ABC asked for an interview for a documentary it was making, but I sensed it might be somewhat sensationalized and declined to appear. I was interviewed by the chief investigator for the Coast Guard. The articles I wrote were cited in a lawsuit against OceanGate filed by Nargeolet's family. I spoke with Netflix for their documentary and thought the resulting film was very well done. I was not in the final cut, but if you were to fast-forward to the last screen of credits, about 40 names are listed on a "Special Thanks" page. It appears for about a second and a half. Mine is the last name listed. If you look for it, don't blink. The Netflix documentary shows what appears to be texts among OceanGate staff questioning the company's methods and regard for safety. In one, there is mention of "expired carbon fiber." It was, at last, public corroboration of what Rush had told me. In the hundreds of stories written about the tragedy, I never saw anyone else mention expired carbon fiber. The captain of the mother ship was present when Rush said it to me and confirmed to me that he also heard it, but I felt pretty lonely out there as the only one reporting that particular aspect of the tragedy. Still, watching the Netflix documentary saddened me deeply. The images on the ship brought back people I had gotten to know, shown in a celebratory mood and full of hopeful anticipation. In the two years since the implosion I have been in touch with some people in the OceanGate-adjacent community. Many stayed loyal to Rush even after his cavalier attitude toward safety became clear. A few tried to talk me out of speaking with Netflix, sensing it would not show him in a good light. Most have now flipped, with some especially angry with him for abusing their trust. As for me, the most lasting impact occurs when I'm in the middle of an interesting conversation on a topic completely unrelated to OceanGate. Or when simply hanging out with family. It'll strike me that I would have missed those interactions had I gone down in the Titan when I was scheduled to. I'm glad to be alive. I'll still pursue opportunities for exploration but with more emphasis on due diligence than trust. And, stay focused on Roald Amundsen's observation: "Adventure is just bad planning."
Daily Tribune
7 days ago
- General
- Daily Tribune
Titanic sub disaster caused by operator failures: probe
AFP | Washington Multiple failures to follow basic safety protocol led to the deadly implosion of a private submersible visiting the Titanic wreckage in 2023, according to a final report published yesterday. The US Coast Guard investigation outlined a litany of issues with OceanGate's operations, as well as design flaws on its Titan submersible, that led to the high-profile disaster in which all five passengers were killed. The probe said "OceanGate's failure to follow established engineering protocols for safety, testing, and maintenance of their submersible, was the primary causal factor" for the implosion. It also accused the company of "intimidation evade regulatory scrutiny." OceanGate had a "toxic workplace environment which used firings of senior staff members and the looming threat of being fired to dissuade employees and contractors from expressing safety concerns," the report said. Explorers and tourists Company chief executive Stockton Rush, British explorer Hamish Harding, French deep-sea explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and Pakistani-British tycoon Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman died when the submersible failed on its expedition in the North Atlantic Ocean. After a loss of communications w i t h the sub, a multinational search for survivors started, captivating the world. But occupants "were exposed to approximately 4,930 pounds per square inch of water pressure" when the hull collapsed, resulting in "instantaneous death," the report said. Debris was found on the ocean floor, about 1,600 feet (500 meters) from the bow of the Titanic. In its report, the Coast Guard said that OceanGate continued to use Titan "after a series of incidents that compromised the integrity of the hull and other critical components of the submersible without properly assessing or inspecting the hull." It also identified design flaws with Titan's carbon fiber hull "that weakened the overall structural integrity." The wreckage of the Titanic sits 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland and has become a lure for nautical experts and underwater tourists since its discovery in 1985.
The National
7 days ago
- The National
Titan sub disaster that killed Dubai explorer was preventable, report finds
US investigators blame OceanGate's safety failures for the tragic death of UAE-based explorer Hamish Harding and four others
