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”.
The family of Mr Harding is not commenting on the report's findings.
SPECS
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
RedCrow Intelligence Company Profile
Started: 2016
Founders: Hussein Nasser Eddin, Laila Akel, Tayeb Akel
Based: Ramallah, Palestine
Sector: Technology, Security
# of staff: 13
Investment: $745,000
Investors: Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund, Abu Dhabi’s Gothams and angel investors
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 5.2-litre V10
Power: 640hp at 8,000rpm
Torque: 565Nm at 6,500rpm
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch auto
Price: From Dh1 million
On sale: Q3 or Q4 2022
Switching%20sides
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Volunteers offer workers a lifeline
Community volunteers have swung into action delivering food packages and toiletries to the men.
When provisions are distributed, the men line up in long queues for packets of rice, flour, sugar, salt, pulses, milk, biscuits, shaving kits, soap and telecom cards.
Volunteers from St Mary’s Catholic Church said some workers came to the church to pray for their families and ask for assistance.
Boxes packed with essential food items were distributed to workers in the Dubai Investments Park and Ras Al Khaimah camps last week. Workers at the Sonapur camp asked for Dh1,600 towards their gas bill.
“Especially in this year of tolerance we consider ourselves privileged to be able to lend a helping hand to our needy brothers in the Actco camp," Father Lennie Connully, parish priest of St Mary’s.
Workers spoke of their helplessness, seeing children’s marriages cancelled because of lack of money going home. Others told of their misery of being unable to return home when a parent died.
“More than daily food, they are worried about not sending money home for their family,” said Kusum Dutta, a volunteer who works with the Indian consulate.
At a glance - Zayed Sustainability Prize 2020
Launched: 2008
Categories: Health, energy, water, food, global high schools
Prize: Dh2.2 million (Dh360,000 for global high schools category)
Winners’ announcement: Monday, January 13
Impact in numbers
335 million people positively impacted by projects
430,000 jobs created
10 million people given access to clean and affordable drinking water
50 million homes powered by renewable energy
6.5 billion litres of water saved
26 million school children given solar lighting
Itcan profile
Founders: Mansour Althani and Abdullah Althani
Based: Business Bay, with offices in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and India
Sector: Technology, digital marketing and e-commerce
Size: 70 employees
Revenue: On track to make Dh100 million in revenue this year since its 2015 launch
Funding: Self-funded to date
Ammar 808:
Maghreb United
Sofyann Ben Youssef
Glitterbeat
FIRST TEST SCORES
England 458
South Africa 361 & 119 (36.4 overs)
England won by 211 runs and lead series 1-0
Player of the match: Moeen Ali (England)
More on animal trafficking
The biog
Job: Fitness entrepreneur, body-builder and trainer
Favourite superhero: Batman
Favourite quote: We must become the change we want to see, by Mahatma Gandhi.
Favourite car: Lamborghini
When Umm Kulthum performed in Abu Dhabi
Known as The Lady of Arabic Song, Umm Kulthum performed in Abu Dhabi on November 28, 1971, as part of celebrations for the fifth anniversary of the accession of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan as Ruler of Abu Dhabi. A concert hall was constructed for the event on land that is now Al Nahyan Stadium, behind Al Wahda Mall. The audience were treated to many of Kulthum's most well-known songs as part of the sold-out show, including Aghadan Alqak and Enta Omri.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Why your domicile status is important
Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.
Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.
UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.
A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.
History's medical milestones
1799 - First small pox vaccine administered
1846 - First public demonstration of anaesthesia in surgery
1861 - Louis Pasteur published his germ theory which proved that bacteria caused diseases
1895 - Discovery of x-rays
1923 - Heart valve surgery performed successfully for first time
1928 - Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
1953 - Structure of DNA discovered
1952 - First organ transplant - a kidney - takes place
1954 - Clinical trials of birth control pill
1979 - MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, scanned used to diagnose illness and injury.
1998 - The first adult live-donor liver transplant is carried out
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Honeymoonish
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More from Neighbourhood Watch
Gertrude Bell's life in focus
A feature film
At one point, two feature films were in the works, but only German director Werner Herzog’s project starring Nicole Kidman would be made. While there were high hopes he would do a worthy job of directing the biopic, when Queen of the Desert arrived in 2015 it was a disappointment. Critics panned the film, in which Herzog largely glossed over Bell’s political work in favour of her ill-fated romances.
A documentary
A project that did do justice to Bell arrived the next year: Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum’s Letters from Baghdad: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Gertrude Bell. Drawing on more than 1,000 pieces of archival footage, 1,700 documents and 1,600 letters, the filmmakers painstakingly pieced together a compelling narrative that managed to convey both the depth of Bell’s experience and her tortured love life.
Books, letters and archives
Two biographies have been written about Bell, and both are worth reading: Georgina Howell’s 2006 book Queen of the Desert and Janet Wallach’s 1996 effort Desert Queen. Bell published several books documenting her travels and there are also several volumes of her letters, although they are hard to find in print. Original documents are housed at the Gertrude Bell Archive at the University of Newcastle, which has an online catalogue.
ALRAWABI%20SCHOOL%20FOR%20GIRLS
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How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
