Relative of Titan sub victim Hamish Harding wants 'full' investigation

Hamish Harding's cousin says the submersible incident should be investigated

A relative of British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding, who died on board the Titan submersible, is calling for a full investigation into the incident.

Mr Harding was one of five people onboard who died when the vessel imploded deep underwater.

Lucy Cosnett, his cousin and goddaughter, said she was shocked and "very, very sad" at news of his death.

She said there should have been more safety checks in place.

"The company OceanGate should have done more," she told the BBC. "It should be fully investigated, to see what went wrong, why it happened, why they didn't survive."

Investigators are still trying to piece together what happened after the Titan lost contact with its mothership on the surface on Sunday.

Following a multi-day search with help from US, Canadian and French teams, pieces of the submersible were found on Thursday, approximately 1,600ft (487m) from the bow of the Titanic wreck.

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Four other people perished on the journey to view the Titanic wreckage: British businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48; his son, Suleman Dawood, 19; French explorer Paul-Henry Nargeolet, 77; and the CEO of OceanGate, 61-year-old Stockton Rush.

OceanGate's safety practices have since faced scrutiny.

The Titan submersible had not been approved or certified by a regulatory body.

A former company employee had warned of potential safety problems with the vessel as far back as 2018. The company later sued him for revealing confidential information.

Messages seen by the BBC also show Mr Rush, the CEO, dismissed a deep sea exploration specialist's safety concerns about the vessel, telling the expert that he was "tired of industry players" trying to halt innovation.

The company has not commented on the email exchange.

In a blog post in 2019, the company said the way the submersible had been designed fell outside of the accepted system - but it "does not mean that OceanGate does not meet standards where they apply".

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Several of those on board were avid explorers, including Mr Harding.

He ran Action Aviation, a Dubai-based private jet dealership. He had visited the South Pole multiple times and flew into space in 2022 on board Blue Origin's fifth human-crewed flight.

He also held three Guinness World Records, including the longest time spent at full ocean depth during a dive to the deepest part of the Mariana Trench.

Ms Cosnett described Mr Harding as a lovely and caring person who paid for some of her schooling.

When the Coast Guard said on Wednesday it was investigating banging noises that had been heard underwater it left her "feeling hopeful that maybe it was coming from the submersible".

"But then yesterday was the worst when I heard that he didn't make it, that they all died."

Ms Cosnett said her cousin would have turned 59 on Saturday.

"I would have sent him a message or tried to call him," she said.