Coast Guard unsure about underwater noises as search for missing sub continues

Officials are unsure about the source of the underwater banging noises picked up by aircraft but are searching the area where the sound was detected as rescuers race to find a missing submersible in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Capt. Jamie Frederick of the 1st Coast Guard District said crews were sent to the area where a Canadian reconnaissance aircraft detected the underwater noises. But robotic search vehicles have so far failed to find the 21-foot, five-person submersible.

Still, rescuers are continuing to comb the area in question, and the noises have been sent over to the U.S. Navy for analysis, Frederick told reporters Wednesday.

“The important piece is we’re searching in the area where the noise was detected,” he said. “We are smack dab in the middle of the search and rescue and we’ll continue to put every available asset that we have to find the Titan.”

The noises have been described as a banging sound, but it’s unclear what the source is, whether manmade or natural.

Carl Hartsfield of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution said it was “difficult to discern” the source, describing the ocean as a “very complex place.”

“I can tell you that this team has multiple sensors. They’re in the area,” he told reporters Wednesday. “They’re sending data back expeditiously to … analyze that data and then they’re feeding the results of that analysis back to the unified team, and they’re making decisions.”

The surface search area is now two times the size of the state of Connecticut, and the subsurface search is up to 2.5 miles deep, according to the U.S. Coast Guard, which is leading the effort along with Canadian rescue personnel.

Frederick said five search assets have been deployed so far and they expect a total of 10 assets within the next 24 to 48 hours.

The search — about 900 miles from Massachusett’s Cape Cod and roughly 400 miles off the coast of Canada’s Newfoundland — is taking place in a challenging environment, Frederick added.

“There’s an enormous complexity associated with this case through the location being … so far offshore, and the coordination between multiple agencies and nations,” he said. “I’ve been stressing unity of effort a lot in this statement, and that’s because it is absolutely critical to this complex operation.”

The submersible is a vessel called Titan operated by the privately owned company OceanGate Expeditions, which conducts deep ocean viewings for qualified tourists.

Titan was en route to view the Titanic, more than 12,000 feet underwater, Sunday when it lost contact with a Canadian research ship about two hours into the dive.

The five-person crew, which includes a British billionaire, two Pakistani nationals, a French Titanic expert and the CEO of OceanGate, were estimated to have 40 hours of oxygen left Tuesday afternoon.

However, the remaining oxygen supply is an assessment and the air could be conserved for longer periods of time.

Frederick said Wednesday that the oxygen supply is “just one piece of data.”

“We need to have hope,” he said.