Dubai-based former passenger of Titan explains how oxygen can be extended onboard

With few hours left of reserved oxygen on the missing Titan submersible, a Dubai-based Irish businessman who has completed the dive last year is confident life support can be extended and the vessel will be found.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4, Oisin Fanning, CEO of oil and gas company San Leon Energy, has expressed confidence in the Titan crew and said “there’s a very good chance they will be found”.

“They would be conserving energy from day one so I wouldn’t be surprised if the oxygen lasts a lot longer because they’ll know exactly what to do,” he added.

Fanning did the marine exploration to see the Titanic wreck in the bottom of the ocean In October last year. He paid $250,000 to become a mission specialist and be part of the five-person crew who had the chance to see famous wreck up close. He was joined by banker Renata Rojas, TV professional Jaden Pan, oceanographer Steve Ross, and pilot Scott Griffith.

Now that hope seems deem four days after Titan went missing off the coast of Newfoundland, Fanning is banking on the expertise of two of the present crew: Paul-Henry Nargeolet, a former commander who served in the French Navy for 25 years, and Stockton Rush, CEO and founder of OceanGate Inc.

“You’re talking about people who have dived to the Titanic alone 38, 40 times – their career’s [are] about diving,” Fanning said, noting the reserved 96 hours of oxygen when Titan made its dive on Sunday can be extended longer than Thursday.

Fanning called Nargeolet and Rush as “consummate professionals” who will advise the passengers not to panic. “I mean, to be honest, if I was in trouble, I’d want to be on a sub with them,” he confidently added.

The key to the survival of the five-man crew that also includes Dubai-based British billionaire Hamish Harding, and UK-based Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, is their ability to stay calm and avoid panicked breathing to conserve oxygen.

Fanning added Titan has blankets and scrubbers that can absorb carbon dioxide from the air and that give passengers buy some time before rescue arrives.

Meanwhile, more vessels have joined search on Wednesday. A small armada of specialised planes and vessels is taking part in the frantic search for the tourist submersible missing in the North Atlantic. They include submarine-detecting planes, teleguided robots and sonar listening equipment to help scour the ocean for the sub, which had been due to visit the wreckage of the Titanic.

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