The search for the missing Titanic submersible, OceanGate’s Titan, has been relocated after “banging noises” were heard close to where the vessel went missing on Sunday. The US Coast Guard says that a Canadian P-3 aircraft picked up on the noises, which are currently being investigated by the US Navy, BBC News reports.
As a result of the development, underwater search missions were relocated, though the remote-operated vehicles (ROV) deployed in the new area have “yielded negative results” so far, according to the Coast Guard.
“Canadian P-3 aircraft detected underwater noises in the search area. As a result, ROV operations were relocated in an attempt to explore the origin of the noises. Those ROV searches have yielded negative results but continue,” it tweeted early Wednesday morning. “Additionally, the data from the P-3 aircraft has been shared with our US Navy experts for further analysis which will be considered in future search plans.”
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. 2/2 #Titanic
— USCGNortheast (@USCGNortheast) June 21, 2023
An internal US government memo obtained by media outlets in the US revealed that the “banging” noises were heard at roughly 30-minute intervals on Tuesday and were still audible when additional sonar was utilized roughly four hours later. However, it’s unclear that the source of that noise was actually Titan.
However, explorer Chris Brown, who’s also a friend of current Titan passenger and British businessman Hamish Harding, said that he believes the intervals of the noises indicate human origin.
“If you made a continuous noise, that’s not going to get picked up, but doing it every 30 minutes, that suggests humans,” Brown told BBC Breakfast. He added that the approach has “got them written all over it” and is “just the sort of thing I would have expected Hamish to come up with.”
There are five people aboard the tourist submersible traveling to the wreckage of the Titanic, and the oxygen supply on board is due to run out by 6 a.m. EST on Thursday, June 22. However, even if Titan was able to surface, those inside wouldn’t be able to escape as they have been bolted in from the outside.
