‘Banging sounds’ heard in hunt for Titanic tourist sub hours before air runs out

Sonars picked up “banging sounds” after every 30 minutes underneath the water in the Atlantic Ocean as rescuers raced against time to find the submarine used to take tourists to view.

The wreckage of the Titanic that went missing, officials said, citing a US government internal communication.

Additional sonar devices were installed after the first underwater noises were heard. Even after deploying additional sonars, the banging was still heard. But it was not clear when it was heard or for how long, CNN reported, citing the internal communication.

A Canadian P-8 aircraft involved in the search “heard banging sounds in the area every 30 minutes”.

Another update on Tuesday night stated that more sounds were heard, though it was not described as “banging”.

The discovery led search teams to relocate their underwater robotic search operations “in an attempt to explore the origin of the noises,” the Coast Guard said in a series of tweets early on Wednesday.

The newly-relocated searches by ROV (remotely operated vehicles) came up empty-handed but will continue, the Coast Guard said.

The Coast Guard did not detail the nature or extent of the sounds that were detected, or how they were picked up.

The US Coast Guard is spearheading the missing research submersible, named Titan, that disappeared on June 18 (Sunday). The submarine, which went missing, carried five people — the pilot and four “mission specialists”.

Crews with the US and Canadian coast guards are hunting the ocean’s surface about 900 miles (approximately 1,450 kilometres) east of Cape Cod and using sonars to listen for sounds far below the water, which is up to 13,000 feet deep in the area.

US Coast Guard Captain Jamie Frederick said that while the rescue operation is on, it was a complex search effort and far beyond what the coast guard would normally tackle, news agency AFP reported.

“While the US Coast Guard has assumed the role of search and rescue mission coordinator, we do not have all of the necessary expertise and equipment required in a search of this nature,” he said.

“This is a complex search effort, which requires multiple agencies with subject matter expertise and specialised equipment,” he added.

Rescuers employed various methods as they raced against the clock to locate the Titan, which lost contact just two hours into its dive near the Titanic wreck.

“The search efforts have focused on both surfaces with C-130 aircraft searching by sight and with radar and subsurface with P3 aircraft. We’re able to drop and monitor sonar buoys,” he further said.

According to rescuers, the submarine can carry five people, including the pilot, and has oxygen life-support for 70 to 96 hours. The 21-foot vessel has four days of emergency capability.

The submersible belonged to OceanGate Expeditions, a company that deploys manned submersibles for deep-sea expeditions, according to multiple reports.

The Titanic sank into the Atlantic in 1912 during its maiden voyage after hitting an iceberg, killing over 1,500 passengers. The wreckage of the ship was discovered in 1985, deep at the bottom of the Atlantic and it has been extensively explored ever since.