‘It took far too long’: Family of Hamish Harding hit out at missing Titanic sub owner for not raising alarm fast enough
22 June 2023, 17:09 | Updated: 23 June 2023, 10:09
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The family of passenger Hamish Harding on the missing Titanic sub have slammed the company owners for not raising alarms over the missing sub sooner.
It comes on the same day it was estimated the air supply on the vessel would run out after it was calculated the crew would have roughly 96 hours worth of oxygen supply on board.
Kathleen Cosnett, the cousin of British billionaire Hamish Harding on board the missing vessel, told the Telegraph: “It's very frightening. It took so long for them to get going to rescue them, it's far too long. I would have thought three hours would be the bare minimum.”
She also went on to say that it was “worrying” that estimates flagged today as the day the submersible “may not have any extra oxygen left.”
It comes on the same day it was estimated the air supply on the vessel would run out after it was calculated the crew would have had roughly 96 hours worth of oxygen supply on board.
Mr Harding’s godson, Robert Evans, also told the outlet about when they heard the submersible’s communication had failed.
He said: “At that time we as a family started scrambling to spread the word and get help. And we did call the UK Coastguard and Foreign [Commonwealth and Development] Office. We called them very early on.”
He added: “To me, Hamish is an incredible man. He’s always been really good to me, in recent years he had more of a public image. But I’ve known him since I was a kid – he took me on adventures, skiing, scuba diving, and to Machu Picchu. He was just incredibly good to me.
“He’s been like a father to me. A second father you could say. We are all still remaining hopeful. We are still in the middle of the rescue.”
It was also reported that a 'debris field' was found on the search by a remotely operate field today but it is not yet known what the field means.
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Despite fears that the air on board the submersible has already run out, the head of the search operation said it remains an active search and rescue mission.
Rear Admiral John Mauger said it is “still an active search and rescue right now” and “conditions for the search and rescue are favourable right now”.
Ships, planes and underwater craft from multiple countries have been deployed to the area with rescuers searching a remote part of the Atlantic Ocean more than twice the size of the US state of Connecticut in waters as deep as 4,020m (13,200ft).
United States Coast Guard make statement about ongoing search for Titan
Currently there are two ROVs (remote operated vehicles) capable of operating on the sea floor.Both have cameras and sonar capability. A deep water robot sub has reached the Atlantic floor - and another is descending the 12,500ft of ocean fast.
British billionaire Hamish Harding is aboard, as are Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a French explorer, Shahzada Dawood, a UK-based Pakistani businessman who is a board member of the Prince's Trust charity, his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood, and Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate.
Guillermo Sohnlein, who founded OceanGate with Mr Rush in 2009, said they could live past the Coast Guard's estimates of oxygen supply.
"Today will be a critical day in this search and rescue mission, as the sub's life support supplies are starting to run low," he said.
"I'm certain that Stockton and the rest of the crew realised days ago that the best thing they can do to ensure their rescue is to extend the limits of those supplies by relaxing as much as possible.
"I firmly believe that the time window available for their rescue is longer than what most people think. I continue to hold out hope for my friend and the rest of the crew."
