Friend of Billionaire Trapped in Sub Says They’re ‘Starting to Think About Worse Case Scenarios’

A friend of billionaire and missing deep sea submersible passenger Hamish Harding told NewsNation host Chris Cuomo that they were now “starting to think about worse case scenarios” on Monday.

“Hamish is an explorer at heart and this was yet another goal on his checklist of what he wanted to explore down here on Earth and also in space,” said Harding’s friend, Jannicke Mikkelsen. “Titanic was one of the big high points that he wanted to achieve in his life.”

Harding and several others went missing on June 18 after contact was lost with their OceanGate Expeditions submersible less than two hours into its dive to survey the shipwreck of the RMS Titanic. A search and rescue operation was launched on June 19, and according to reports, the submersible has a life support system designed to last just 96 hours.

When asked whether the trip was supposed to be “very dangerous” and whether those on board knew there was a chance they might not come back, Mikkelsen said, “Every single expedition is dangerous and that’s something that Hamish taught me. He’s the reason why I started my expedition career as well.”

She explained, “Every expedition has a possibility of death, absolutely, and Hamish knows the risks of every single expedition he starts,” adding that Harding would “be calm” and that those on board would be working together to solve the issues presented to them in a professional manner.

Mikkelsen expressed concern, however, that it may already be too late to rescue Harding and the other passengers.

“My fear is that they didn’t make their last ascent window. They should have surfaced a few hours ago. They didn’t. That is scary,” she said. “That is very scary, and we’re starting to think about worst-case scenarios.”

Watch above, via NewsNation.