Hamish Harding, one of five passengers who are on board the missing Titanic tourist submersible, belongs to an international society of adventurers that includes Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, famed astronaut Buzz Aldrin, and veteran explorer Josh Gates.
Harding, a British millionaire, known for his exploratory escapades across the globe, is a founding member of the Board of Trustees of The Explorers Club. A resident of Dubai, he also chairs the club’s Middle East Chapter.
According to its website, the Explorers Club "has been supporting scientific expeditions of all disciplines, and uniting our members in the bonds of good fellowship for over a century."
The club’s president, Richard Garriott de Cayeux, wrote online that he had spoken with Hamish last week at the Global Exploration Summit and his excitement about the upcoming expedition was "palpable."
‘BANGING’ NOISES CONFIRMED IN DESPERATE DEEP-SEA SEARCH FOR MISSING TITAN SUB BUT SOURCE UNKNOWN
"I know he was looking forward to conducting research at the site," Garriott de Cayeux said. "We all join in the fervent hope that the submersible is located as quickly as possible and the crew is safe."
Harding, 58, is renowned for his lofty travel ambitions, with a resume including a record-setting circumnavigation of the Earth, an Antarctic expedition with Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, and a seat aboard the fifth human flight of Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket last year.
Fellow Explorers Club member Jeff Gates, who hosts a TV series, revealed on Twitter Wednesday that the missing OceanGate sub "did not perform well" when he went on a dive aboard the vessel himself.
Other passengers on board the missing submersible include French explorer and Titanic expert Paul-Henry Nargeolet, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, Pakistani billionaire Shahzada Dawood, and his son, Suleman.
Rescuers on Wednesday rushed more ships and vessels to the area where a submersible disappeared on its way to the Titanic wreckage site, hoping underwater sounds they detected for a second straight day might help narrow their search in an increasingly urgent mission.
Crews were scouring an area twice the size of Connecticut in waters 2 1/2 miles deep, said Captain Jamie Frederick of the First Coast Guard District, who noted that authorities are still holding out hope of saving the five passengers onboard the Titan.
"This is a search and rescue mission, 100%," he said. "... We'll continue to put every available asset that we have in an effort to find the Titan and the crew members."
But even those who expressed optimism warned that many obstacles remain: from pinpointing the vessel's location, to reaching it with rescue equipment, to bringing it to the surface — assuming it's still intact. And all that has to happen before the passengers' oxygen supply runs out, which some have estimated might happen as early as Thursday morning.
Fox News’ Michael Ruiz and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
