OceanGate co-founder says ‘time window’ for Titanic sub rescue may be longer than people think

A co-founder of OceanGate Expeditions spoke out and gave reason to hope the five-man crew of the missing Titan submersible can still be rescued, including CEO Stockton Rush. 

Guillermo Söhnlein founded OceanGate with Rush in 2009 to offer pricey deep-sea tours to the extremely wealthy in manned submersibles capable of diving up to 13,123 feet. Söhnlein left the company in 2013, turning it over to Rush and reducing his role to a minority shareholder, but the two have kept in touch and last spoke a couple of weeks before the ill-fated Titanic expedition. 

In a statement posted on Facebook, Söhnlein broke his silence about the missing crew and encouraged the public and the media to remain hopeful for the crew’s rescue and avoid speculation about what happened.

“For the past three days, I have watched from afar as hundreds of dedicated professionals worked tirelessly to find and rescue the crew of the research submersible, Titan, with which communication was lost during its science expedition to the wreck of the Titanic. The pilot is my co-founder and friend, Stockton Rush,” Söhnlein wrote.

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“Today will be a critical day in this search and rescue mission, as the sub’s life support supplies are starting to run low. I’m certain that Stockton and the rest of the crew realized days ago that the best thing they can do to ensure their rescue is to extend the limits of those supplies by relaxing as much as possible. I firmly believe that the time window available for their rescue is longer than what most people think,” he said.

An international search and rescue effort has continued for days since the Titan was reported missing on Monday. Critically, the crew is sealed inside the submersible and has a limited supply of breathable air. 

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In a statement issued Wednesday night, the U.S. Coast Guard said the sub “was launched at 8 a.m. EDT [Sunday] and expected to resurface at 3 p.m., but one hour and 45 minutes into their dive, they lost contact with the Polar Prince.”

On OceanGate’s website, it lists the Titan sub as having 96 hours of life support for a crew of five passengers. Authorities have estimated the submersible will run out of oxygen sometime Thursday morning. 

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The five-member crew onboard the Titan includes Rush, French mariner Paul-Henry Nargeolet, British businessman and explorer Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Sulaiman Dawood.

Söhnlein said there is reason to hope the crew can be rescued after the estimated deadline. 

“I would encourage everyone to remain hopeful for getting the crew back safely. In 1972, a similar rescue operation was able to retrieve two pilots trapped in a downed submersible with only 72 hours of life support. I continue to hold out hope for my friend and the rest of the crew,” he wrote.

He continued, “While I completely understand the public’s interest in this situation and the media’s need to cover it as a notable story, I ask that we wait until after the crew returns and conducts a proper debrief to speculate on what happened. We need to give those involved with the rescue enough room to focus on their work, and we need to give the crew’s families privacy to deal with their emotions in their own personal way. 

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“For myself, I have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support I have received from friends and colleagues all over the world. It has been impossible to respond, but please know that your messages are truly appreciated, so … thank you!”

Though Söhnlein and others have expressed optimism, there are still many hurdles for rescuers to overcome: from pinpointing the vessel’s location, to reaching it with rescue equipment, to bringing it to the surface — assuming it’s still intact. And all that needs to happen before the crew runs out of breathable air. 

Fox News’ Bradford Betz, Greg Norman, Michael Ruiz and the Associated Press contributed to this report.