The barista recalled his last moments with the crew (Picture: Chris Bott for Daily Mail/Getty Images/ Facebook)
A barista who served the Titan crew coffees just before their doomed trip to the bottom of the North Atlantic said they were all ‘excited’.
James Law, who works at the Terre Cafe in St John’s, Newfoundland, said the crew also ‘seemed in a rush’ because previous attempts to reach the Titanic shipwreck were postponed due to bad weather.
Shahzada Darwood, his teenage son Suleman, billionaire Hamish Harding, Stockton Rush, CEO of OceanGate Expeditions and French explorer Paul-Henry Nargeolet all died on the sub when it suffered a ‘catastrophic implosion’.
James told the Daily Mail: ‘Before leaving on their last expedition, a bunch of the crew came in here and ordered a bunch of coffees before going out.
‘It was about nine or 10 of them. I could tell who they were because they’re all literally wearing jackets that say Titanic on them. Everyone was wearing that blue OceanGate Titanic jacket.
He went on: ‘They were saying they were excited for a good expedition. And a few of them seemed in a rush. They were a little behind schedule. That was the first day there was a break in the fog for a while. They were in a rush to go. They were excited to go.’
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The Titan submersible just as it started its descent (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)
From left, Shahzada Dawood, Suleman Dawood, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Stockton Rush and Hamish Harding all died in the implosion on board the vessel (Picture: AP)
The craft submerged Sunday morning, and its support vessel lost contact with it about an hour and 45 minutes later, according to the Coast Guard.
When the huge search got underway and the passengers’ identities were revealed James said he recognised some of the faces.
‘I recognized one of the faces, the CEO, Rush, and I also recognised that British explorer guy.’
The barista said there were protests in the local area when the US Coast Guard originally called off the search early.
Barista James Law spoke with the crew members on that fateful day (Picture: Daily Mail)
‘There were protests here in town because they initially called off the search after a few days, and people pushed them to continue the search for another week or so. It was certainly a big deal down here.
‘And then last year, a couple guys went hunting for turr, hit a shoal and the boat flipped. They found the boat, but didn’t find the bodies.’
The Coast Guard confirmed on Thursday all five passengers aboard the submersible Titan died following a ‘catastrophic implosion’.
Devastated families and politicians have paid tribute to those in the submersible who died.
The Terre Cafe where the crew stopped off (Picture: Daily Mail)
Safety concerns had previously been raised about the Titan submersible by a former employee of Oceangate, according to court documents.
Journalist David Pogue is one of those who expressed safety concerns, after going on a trip last year where Titan got lost for several hours.
Titanic director and submersible expert James Cameron told BBC News this morning he predicted the outcome of what happened to the vessel, and compared it to what happened to the ill-fated ship.
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‘They were in a rush to go. They were excited to go.’