The sounds from underneath the water were heard by sonar devices deployed to find the lost 21-foot submersible.
58 AM EDT, Wed June 21, 2023
Banging sounds have been picked up from the Atlantic Ocean in the hunt for the submersible that went missing while touring Titanic wreckage with five people onboard, signaling “continued hope of survivors,” according to a US government memo, even as the craft’s oxygen dwindles.
As rescue efforts keep ramping up, the underwater sounds were detected Tuesday by sonar devices deployed to find the 21-foot vessel that lost contact Sunday. The banging first came every 30 minutes and was heard again four hours later, the internal government memo obtained by CNN states.
While the underwater noises, detected by a Canadian P-3 aircraft, prompted the relocation of resources to explore their origin, “searches have yielded negative results,” the US Coast Guard tweeted early Wednesday, as less than a day of breathable air may be left on the vessel, based on agency officials’ latest estimate.
“Additional acoustic feedback was heard and will assist in vectoring surface assets and also indicating continued hope of survivors,” according to a Coast Guard update Tuesday night.
It was unclear when exactly the banging was heard Tuesday or how long it lasted, based on the memo. Rolling Stone was first to report news of the banging.
“We don’t know the source of that noise, but we’ve shared that information with Navy experts to classify it,” US Coast Guard First District Commander Rear Admiral John Mauger told “CBS This Morning” on Wednesday.
He described there being a lot of metal and other debris in the water around the Titanic site, adding, “That’s why it’s so important that we’ve engaged experts from the Navy that understand the science behind noise and can classify or give us better information about what the source of that noise may be.”
While that analysis is taking place, Mauger said, two remote operated vehicles and one surface vessel that has sonar capability have been sent to the area where the banging was detected.
The submersible known as Titan was carrying a pilot and four “mission specialists” when it lost contact with its mother ship about 1 hour and 45 minutes into its dive, authorities said. The craft is operated by OceanGate Expeditions, which organizes journeys to Titanic’s wreckage on the ocean floor for $250,000, an archived version of its website shows.
The trip was part of the growing business of wealthy adventure tourism, along with the space flights of Blue Origin and the rise of guided tours to Mount Everest, and reflects an ongoing fascination with the doomed steamship more than a century after it sank on its maiden voyage, killing more than 1,500 people.
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