Mario Ferreira, Portuguese businessman and CEO of Mystic Cruises, had the opportunity to be onboard the Titan, the submersible that went missing on Sunday while on a mission to survey the wreckage of the Titanic.

Mystic Cruises oversees Nicko Cruises and Atlas Ocean Voyages, and also charters ships to other operators.

Ferreira was quoted as saying he had two opportunities to embark on the journey but ended up changing his mind both times. In April, he had a reserved ticket but canceled the reservation.

Then, last Friday, at the Glex Summit 2023 conference held in the Azores, Ferreira met British explorer Hamish Harding who invited him to join the voyage across the Atlantic.

Ferreira declined the second opportunity.

Harding is one of the five crew members onboard the Titan, along with Stockton Rush, CEO of OceanGate Expeditions (the company that organized the trip), Shahzada and Sulaiman Dawood, one of the richest men in Pakistan and his son, and Paul-Henry Nargeolet, a former commander of the French Navy.

“We met in the Blue Origin astronaut group. And he challenged me to a mission to the Titanic,” said Ferreira in an interview in Público. “I thought I shouldn’t go and I didn’t go. Glad I didn’t go.”

Ferreira said that Harding insisted he joined him on the Titan but the businessman maintained his decision.

“My friend who is on the submarine told me that my place was [still] free and that I could go with him. We had been together on Friday and he left on the private plane to go board. I didn’t want to go.”