Titan Submarine Search: Sonar Detects 'Banging Sounds' Near Titanic Wreck
The race to locate OceanGate's Titan submarine continues in the North Atlantic near the sunken remains of the Titanic. In the early hours of Wednesday, the U.S. Coast Guard reported that "banging noises" were picked up by Canadian P-3 aircraft scanning the area with sonar equipment. These noises were reportedly heard in 30-minute intervals, leading rescue crews to believe that they could be generated by survivors inside the Titan.
The same rescue aircraft reportedly also spotted a white rectangular object in the water, though the ship deployed to inspect the object was ultimately recalled to a different location to investigate the sonar findings.
“Additional acoustic feedback was heard and will assist in vectoring surface assets and also indicating continued hope of survivors,” read a U.S. Coast Guard memo, according to CNN. "Additionally, the data from the P-3 aircraft has been shared with our U.S. Navy experts for further analysis which will be considered in future search plans.
"Searches have yielded negative results,” the U.S. Coast Guard added.
The search for the 21-foot submersible now enters its third day, and is literally a race against time. According to reports, the Titan could now have just 20 hours of oxygen left.
The tourist excursion destined for the Titanic wreckage ran into trouble less than two hours after departing St. John's, Newfoundland, on Sunday and immediately went radio silent. There were five people onboard, four passengers who reportedly paid $250,000 each for the voyage plus Stockton Rush. Rush is the founder and CEO of OceanGate, as well as the Titan's operator.
This is a developing story.
