Friend of Hamish Harding tried to help search for Titan

Friend of billionaire Hamish Harding describes desperate attempt to get Magellan sub to help search for Titan sub and says ‘the banging in the water’ was giving family hope – despite Navy hearing implosion on day it launched

• Tracy Ryan joined efforts to mobilize a submersible which can dive to 20,000ft
• US officials ultimately decided against deploying the remote operated vehicle, that is similar to the Odysseus 6000 which discovered Titan debris
• A search is underway for more debris but officials fear it’s unlikely that remains of the five men who perished will be found

A friend of billionaire Hamish Harding has paid tribute to the explorer and described the efforts to mobilize help for the search and rescue mission – before it emerged he died in a ‘catastrophic implosion’ on the Titan submersible.

Tracy Ryan said she joined the attempt to have a Magellan sub brought to the search site before the devastating news that Titan had suffered a ‘catastrophic’ implosion.

Magellan is a Guernsey-based company which owns remotely operated vehicles that can reach depths of around 20,000ft. They are similar to the Odysseus 6000 which found Titan debris close to the Titanic.

The company offered one of its ROVs to aid the search but it was not used after US authorities, including the Coast Guard, did not request its help because of ‘how far out that vessel would be from the area needed’.

Ryan said she had joined efforts to lobby officials to bring a Magellan into the search after receiving an email. She contacted Congressman Eric Swalwell, who spent ‘two days’ trying to get Magellan signed off.

Tracy Ryan, right, with Hamish Harding and his family, has paid tribute to the explorer and described efforts to mobilize additions submersibles to help the search for Titan

British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding was one of five men who perished on Titan 

She was encouraged by the ‘banging sounds’ that the Coast Guard said it heard during the search. It has since emerged the US Navy believes it detected the implosion of Titan just hours after it went missing and the banging, which was picked up by a Canadian search aircraft, was not related to submersible.

An investigation is expected to be held to determine whether the sounds the Navy believes it heard on the Sunday Titan went missing was the implosion.

‘This was really more of an effort for me to try and help the family get answers faster. Because the banging in the water that was happening every 30 minutes was giving them so much hope,’ Ryan told People.

She said she met the Harding family in 2019 on a visit to NASA’s Kennedy Space Station and ‘really bonded’ with Linda Harding. 

‘She has such a beautiful soul,’ said Ryan. ‘When I heard it was Hamish my heart dropped to my stomach.’

‘I had been working behind the scenes for four days to get the Magellan sub there and get their permits approved because they did have the capabilities to dive all the way down to the site,’ she added.

The search operation is still underway but officials have said it’s unlikely that any remains will be found.

Harding, 58, died alongside French explorer PH Nargeolet, 77, Shahzada Dawood, 48, a UK-based board member of the Prince’s Trust charity, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, 61.

Pelagic Research Services, which operates Odysseus, said it was working closely with authorities in the ongoing search for Titan wreckage. Odysseus has carried out at least four searches of the seabed for more debris and evidence.

The searches are part of a wider investigation by the U.S. Coast Guard which will also consider whether OceanGate, the company which launched Titan, is culpable for any ‘misconduct, incompetence, negligence, unskillfulness or willful violation of law’.

Ed Cassano, CEO of Palagic Research Services, said: ‘We continue to work tirelessly in our support role of this mission, alongside the incredible crew of Horizon Arctic, led by Captain Adam Myers.’

Horizon Arctic is the vessel which launches Odysseus.

Cassano added that the team has been ‘successful in investigating identified objects of interest’.

The recovery was described as ‘remarkably difficult and risky’ because of the depths. Titan had been headed to the wreckage of the Titanic, 12,500ft underwater where the pressure is immense.

The U.S. Navy has ruled out using its most advanced deep sea recovery tool to pick up the pieces.

Machinery needed for the rescue effort (pictured) had allegedly been held up on the island of Guernsey, where Magellan is based

Magellan is a Guernsey-based company which owns remotely operated vehicles (pictured) that can reach depths of around 20,000ft. They are similar to the Odysseus 6000 which found Titan debris close to the Titanic

Stockton Rush perished on board the Titan last Sunday along with his four passengers, including PH Nargeolet, right, when the vessel imploded while en route to the Atlantic seabed

Shahzada Dawood, 48, (right) one of Pakistan’s richest men, who along with his teenage son Suleman Dawood, 19, (left) died on the Titan

The Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System had been deployed amid hopes it could rescue Titan if the vessel was found intact.

Officials have said it won’t be used following the grim news that Titan suffered a ‘catastrophic implosion’ which has likely broken it into smithereens.

Captain Jason Neubauer, who is heading up the investigation, said salvage operations are continuing and investigators have mapped the accident site.

The Coast Guard opened what it calls a Marine Board of Investigation (MBI) on Friday, he said, and is working with the FBI to recover evidence.

Cpt Neubauer said the convening of an MBI is the highest level of inquiry conducted by the US Coast Guard. It is unclear how long it will take. The US Coast Guard said it does not charge for search and rescue operations.

The findings will be shared with the International Maritime Organization and other groups ‘to help improve the safety framework for submersible operations worldwide,’ Cpt Neubauer said.

He said the Coast Guard is in touch with the families of the five people killed, and that investigators are ‘taking all precautions on site if we are to encounter any human remains.’ 

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