Captain of the missing Titanic submarine “Titan”

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The French deep-sea explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet (77) is a true Titanic veteran. During 37 shipwreck dives since 1987, he has collected more than 5,000 Titanic items from the seabed. Most likely, the dive he started on Sunday was his last.

Shortly after the submarine “Titan” sank in the Northwest Atlantic, contact with the floating command center was lost. The submarine piloted by Nargeolet with the four fellow passengers has since gone missing. A major search is underway on the water and in the air. During these hours, the oxygen on board is exhausted.

But in an accident, divers are more likely to die from the cold at the ocean depths than from lack of oxygen. That is what Nargeolet says in a video that has just surfaced. It is unclear when the video was recorded.

“before you know it you’ll be dead”

You can survive four or five days at the bottom of the ocean, says Nargeolet. “But that’s not much use to you, because no one can help you.” Oxygen, food and water would be enough for about five days, but: “We know very well that the temperature will kill us for that.”

The real problem at this depth is temperature. This is just above freezing. Nargeolet: “If you are in the submarine and nothing is running, everything is cold, including the food. After a while you will die of the cold.” That’s “not a bad way to die,” laughs the researcher. “Because you fall asleep and don’t have to suffer. But we never think that could happen. It doesn’t occur to us.”

In 2019, Nargeolet also indicated that there is hardly any rescue in case of problems with a dive. “If something bad happens, it doesn’t matter if you’re 11 meters or 11 kilometers deep,” the Frenchman told the Irish Examiner. “If you’re in really deep water, you’re dead before you know anything is happening, so it’s just not a big deal.” (kes)

Source: Blick