Rescuers race against clock after noises heard from Titanic vessel search area
There are now less than 24 hours of oxygen left in the missing Titan submersible as rescue efforts continue for the five divers.
A Canadian aircraft searching for the sub in the Atlantic Ocean detected intermittent “banging” noises from the vicinity of its last known location.
The crew searching for the missing sub heard banging sounds every 30 minutes on Tuesday and again four hours later, after additional sonar devices were deployed.
However, Rear Admiral John Mauger of the US Coast Guard who is leading the search, said that “we don’t know the source of the noise”.
CEO and founder of OceanGate Expeditions Stockton Rush, British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding, renowned French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood are on the OceanGate Expeditions’ submersible, Titan.
The watercraft submerged on Sunday morning from its support vessel to travel to the Titanic wreckage which sits at a depth of 12,500ft. About an hour and 45 minutes later, the Titan lost contact with its mother ship, the Polar Prince, authorities said.
The Titan is equipped with a four-day emergency oxygen supply. It is estimated that the five missing passengers have less than 24 hours of oxygen supply left inside the vessel.
The US Coast Guard and Canadian Coast Guard are involved in rescue efforts.