Dubai-based British explorer Hamish Harding has been remembered as a "loving husband to his wife and a dedicated father to his two sons, whom he loved deeply". Harding, 58, was among five men who died after a Titanic expedition submersible suffered a "catastrophic implosion".

In a statement issued via the businessman's company Action Aviation, his family have paid a heartbreaking tribute.

"He was one of a kind and we adored him. He was a passionate explorer - whatever the terrain - who lived his life for his family, his business and for the next adventure."

Talking about his achievements that include three Guinness world records, his family said: "What he achieved in his lifetime was truly remarkable and if we can take any small consolation from this tragedy, it's that we lost him doing what he loved.

"He will leave a gap in our lives that can never be filled."

Referring to the international search and rescue teams that scoured the Atlantic Ocean for days, Harding's family added: "We know that Hamish would have been immensely proud to see how nations, experts, industry colleagues and friends came together for the search and we extend our heartfelt thanks for all their efforts."

The family said it was "united in grief with the other families who have also lost their loved ones on the Titan submersible". They requested privacy at this "incredibly difficult time".

OceanGate, which operates the expedition, confirmed in a statement on Thursday that its CEO Stockton Rush, Harding, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, have "sadly been lost".

"These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans. Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time. We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew," it added.

A UAE expat for 15 years, Harding was an accomplished aviator who had been to the depths of space and the ocean.

In a statement issued earlier, Mark Butler, managing director of Action Aviation, had called him an "extraordinarily accomplished individual who has successfully undertaken challenging expeditions, including but not limited to One More Orbit project (the record-breaking circumnavigation of the world), a flight to space with Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket as a commercial astronaut (NS-21 Mission), and the reintroduction of Cheetahs from Namibia to India".

"He has travelled on a submersible to the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench (the deepest point on earth) and been to the South Pole a number of times."

Harding was honoured with induction into the Living Legends of Aviation in 2022.

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