Chilling last text of British billionaire who died in Titanic sub revealed

The chilling final text of a British billionaire who died inside the Titanic-bound submersible that vanished has been revealed.

British billionaire Hamish Harding is among the passengers on the missing submarine Titan which was on an expedition to view the Titanic

The chilling final text of a British billionaire who died inside the Titanic-bound submersible that vanished deep below the water off Newfoundland on Sunday revealed that weather had been bad for sea travel in the days leading up to the trip.

A day before the OceanGate Expeditions-operated sub was launched, renowned world explorer Hamish Harding sent his friend, retired NASA astronaut Col. Terry Virts, an update on his grand voyage set to drop 3810m beneath the surface to view the famous shipwreck.

“Hey, we’re headed out tomorrow, it looks good, the weather’s been bad so they’ve been waiting for this,” Harding, 58, messaged Virts.

While sharing the final message with ITV’s Good Morning, Virts said he and his adventure-seeking friend “don’t really talk about risks.”

Live updates: Titanic sub crew confirmed dead

“He understood the risks for sure, there’s no doubt about that,” Virts added.

“He went down to the deepest part of the ocean, set a few world records … at the Mariana Trench [the deepest part of the ocean] and we talked quite a bit about the risks and the different things that they were going to be able to do. So he was very excited about it,” he said.

A day before the expedition took off, Harding shared his excitement about the trip on Instagram.

Explorer Hamish Harding is trapped inside the Titanic-bound submersible.

The deep-sea voyage was poised to be only the latest in Harding’s impressive travel resume, with the explorer having been one of six astronauts to visit space aboard the Blue Origin mission last year.

Harding, who boasts three Guinness World Records for his daring exploits, has also made multiple trips to the South Pole, including one with retired Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin, who became the oldest person to reach the pole at 86.

Four others died aboard the submersible with Harding, including one of Pakistan’s wealthiest men, Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19.

OceanGate Expeditions, the private company that launched the vessel, offers private tours of the Titanic wreckage site for $US250,000 a person.

‘Hey, we’re headed out tomorrow, it looks good, the weather’s been bad so they’ve been waiting for this.’

Coast Guard crews said Monday night they have just 70 to 96 hours to locate the missing sub and rescue the five people aboard before the vessel runs out of oxygen.

The company touts its eight-day trip to the Titanic as a “chance to step outside of everyday life and discover something truly extraordinary.”

The vessel — which cannot submerge and return to port on its own like a submarine — was reported missing Sunday night after it failed to return to its support ship on time.

The five men on-board were confirmed dead on Friday morning (AEST).

OceanGate, the company behind the ill-fated expedition, released a statement confirming its CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet had “sadly been lost”.

It came after debris from the missing Titan sub was found.

This article originally appeared in the New York Post and was reproduced with permission