Crews searching for Titanic site submarine hear underwater noises

One of the sonar aircraft searching for the missing tourist submarine bound for the Titanic wreck site heard noises Wednesday, offering some hope for the lives of five on board.

The U.S. Coast Guard said just after midnight on Wednesday that a Canadian aircraft “detected underwater noises in the search area,” but additional efforts “yielded negative results” and will continue. 

No authorities have confirmed what the banging noise the crew heard could be, though underwater crews banging on a ship’s hull to be detected by sonar is a possible outcome.

The U.S. and Canadian coast guards and navies have deployed multiple sonar-equipped search aircraft and ships, as well as placed experts in dive medicine and rescue in the area should the craft be found.

The Titan submersible went missing Sunday during a dive attempt to the Titanic wreck site, more than 2 miles below the ocean surface. The wreck is about 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.

Crews have not been able to communicate with the submarine and its five people aboard since Sunday, and their fate is unknown. The submarine holds four days of excess oxygen, and there are less than 24 hours of oxygen estimated to be remaining.

OceanGate, which built and operates the craft, came under fire Tuesday when a 2018 lawsuit was unearthed claiming the company’s leadership was not concerned with safety. 

The company’s former head of marine operations wrote and published a safety report alleging serious deficiencies with an earlier model of the Titan. He was sued by OceanGate for breaking a non-disclosure agreement.

Stockton Rush, OceanGate CEO, is aboard the Titan submersible. Also on board are a British adventurer, two members of a Pakistani business family and a Titanic expert.