Two-Time Titan Diver Says Rescue May Depend on Passengers Staying Calm

Both men, he said, would know that it would take several days for a rescue vessel to arrive.

Mr. Fanning said he was well aware of the expedition’s risks before his dives, including that the vessel had not undergone independent certification procedures. But the prospect of seeing the wreckage of the Titanic up close was worth it, he said.

“Everybody knew the risks, but of course, everyone is more excited about getting to the Titanic than overly worrying,” said 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 chief executive of San Leon Energy, an oil and gas company, said the experience was thrilling and well worth the $120,000 he paid for the dives, one that toured an area near the wreckage 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 is not comfortable, you’re in a cigar-like tube, and you’re just sitting on the floor,” taking turns looking out of a small porthole, he said.

Mr. Fanning, who lives in London and Dubai, said he was still very hopeful of a successful rescue, but acknowledged the difficulties facing the search operation. Even if the submersible was floating near the surface, semi-submerged, it would be extremely difficult to spot, he said.