Two-time Titan diver says rescue may depend on passengers staying calm

Both men, he said, would know it would be several days before a rescue ship arrived.

Mr. Fanning said he was well aware of the risks of the expedition before diving, including the fact that the ship had not undergone independent certification procedures. But the prospect of seeing the Titanic wreck up close was worth it, he said.

“Everyone knew the risks, but of course everyone is more excited to get to the Titanic than overly concerned,” says Mr Fanning, 65, who had grown up hearing stories about the Titanic from his father, who was born in Belfast . Northern Ireland, where the Titanic was built.

Mr. Fanning, the CEO of San Leon Energy, an oil and gas company, said the experience was exhilarating and worth the $120,000 he paid for the dives, one touring an area near the wreck and another that visited the Titanic itself. “You see a lot, a bathtub in one of the rooms, a lamp outside the Sergeant of Arms’ rooms,” he said.

“It’s not comfortable, you’re in a cigar-like case and you’re just sitting on the floor,” he said in turn from a small porthole.

Mr Fanning, who lives in London and Dubai, said he still had high hopes for a successful rescue but acknowledged the difficulties faced by the search operation. Even if the submarine were floating close to the surface, half submerged, it would be extremely difficult to spot, he said.