A co-founder of OceanGate Expeditions gave a somewhat optimistic view about rescuing the five-man crew of the missing Titan submarine after it went incommunicado earlier this week amid concerns that the vessel will run out of oxygen.
In a statement posted on social media, OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Söhnlein, who left the firm in 2013, said that the public and media should remain hopeful for the crew’s rescue and avoid speculation about their fate. An international rescue effort has continued since the submarine was declared missing on Sunday evening and as the company said that there is a limited supply of oxygen on board.
“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 on social media.
He added that Thursday “will be a critical day in this search and rescue mission, as the sub’s life support supplies are starting to run low,” adding, “I’m certain that [other co-founder] Stockton [Rush] 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.
But on Thursday morning, air was expected to run out for the five people aboard. Officials vowed to continue scouring the remote North Atlantic.
A remotely operated vehicle deployed from a Canadian vessel reached the ocean floor to begin searching, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Thursday morning, while another robotic craft from a French research ship was also preparing to dive to the seabed.
The submersible set off with 96 hours of air, according to the company, which means the oxygen would be exhausted by Thursday morning, assuming the Titan is still intact. Precisely when depends on factors such as whether the craft still has power and how calm those on board are, experts say.
Rescuers and relatives of the Titan’s five occupants took hope when the U.S. Coast Guard said on Wednesday that Canadian search planes had recorded undersea noises using sonar buoys earlier that day and on Tuesday.
But remote-controlled underwater vehicles searching where the noises were detected had not yielded results, and officials cautioned the sounds might not have originated from the Titan. Despite the fading hopes, U.S. Coast Guard rear admiral John Mauger told broadcaster NBC News the search would continue throughout Thursday.
Söhnlein stated there’s reason to hope the crew can be rescued after the 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 added: “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.”
Officials have said that other than the oxygen running out, there are other problems at play. Rescuers would have to find the location of the submersible, reach it with rescue equipment, and bring it to the surface if it is still intact.
Those onboard the vessel include British billionaire and adventurer Hamish Harding, 58, Pakistani-born businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, with his 19-year-old son Suleman, French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, and Rush, 61, founder and chief executive of OceanGate.
In Boston, near the Coast Guard base that has been delivering public updates on the search, paralegal Jenna Roat said on Wednesday that she had been captivated by the rescue efforts along with her family and friends.
Her wish for a miracle was waning with the approach of Thursday morning, when experts estimated the Titan would run out of oxygen. “There’s not a lot of hope,” she said.
