Family of Hamish Harding criticise OceanGate for taking ‘so long’ to begin rescue

The family of Hamish Harding have criticised OceanGate - the company that takes tourists to visit the wreck of the Titanic - for taking ‘so long’ to begin the rescue mission.

British billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding, 58, is among the five on board the missing Titanic submersible.

On Friday, the group embarked on an expedition which set off from St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada.

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The following evening, Harding - who is the founder of the billion-dollar Action Group - wrote on Facebook: "Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023. A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow.

"More expedition updates to follow IF the weather holds!"

On Sunday, the submersible was scheduled to return to the surface. It did not.

While rescue missions are ongoing, the family of the British billionaire have criticised OceanGate for taking 'far too long' to issue an alarm.

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Kathleen Cosnett, 69, a cousin of Harding, told The Telegraph: "It’s very frightening.

"[It] took so long for them to get going to rescue [them], it’s far too long.

"I would have thought three hours would be the bare minimum."

Robert Evans, Harding’s godson, added: "I heard the sub had lost contact through family who were in contact with them [OceanGate] roughly when I was going to sleep [at around 11pm].

"At that time we as a family started scrambling to spread the word and get help. And we did call the UK Coastguard and Foreign [Commonwealth and Development] Office. We called them very early on."

Evans, who is also godfather to Harding's elder son, added: "To me, Hamish is an incredible man. He’s always been really good to me, in recent years he had more of a public image. But I’ve known him since I was a kid – he took me on adventures, skiing, scuba diving, and to Machu Picchu. He was just incredibly good to me."

LADbible has contacted OceanGate for comment.

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The other four passengers on board are French maritime expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet; Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman; and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush.

Sadly, the US Coast Guard has predicted that the oxygen supply on the missing Titanic submersible has now run out.

A spokesperson said that the vital oxygen supply on board was predicted to run out at 7.08am US Eastern time (12.08pm BST).

Despite the bleak update for the stranded tourists on board as well as their loved ones, officials have insisted that the search is ‘100 percent’ still a search and rescue mission.