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Rescuers searching for missing Titanic submarine ‘don’t know’ where noises are coming from as oxygen runs down
Rescue workers searching for a missing sub-marine say they do not know where noises heard below the surface on sonar are coming from.
The Titan, a submarine, went missing with five people on board. The vessel lost communication with tour operators on Sunday while about 435 miles south of St John’s, Newfoundland, during a voyage to the Titanic shipwreck off the coast of Canada.
The US Coast Guard announced earlier on Wednesday that the Canadian P-3 aircraft detected underwater noises. The 6.7m (22ft) long OceanGate Expeditions vessel may have less than 20 hours of oxygen left.
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At a press conference on Wednesday, Captain Jamie Frederick told reporters the cause of the noises was still unconfirmed but insisted the efforts to find the five missing people aboard the Titan was still “a rescue mission”.He said: “There have been multiple reports of noises and every one of those noises is being analysed. We need to have hope, but I can’t tell you what the noises are.”
Frederick, added the noises were head yesterday. He said: “It was this morning and some yesterday. I don’t know specifically if they were at 30-minute intervals, but again I really think the important point to that is we are searching there”.
The cause of the noises was still unconfirmed but he insisted the efforts to find the five missing people aboard the Titan was still “a rescue mission”.
On oxygen levels on board, he said: “Oxygen is just one piece of data. There are lots of pieces of data that we need to study. But (oxygen) is not the only thing that’s important.”
Asked if they were still treating the passengers as alive, he added: “This is a search and rescue mission, no doubt about it”.
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(Image: OceanGate Expeditions/PA Wire)Mr Hartsfield, from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, also spoke at the presser, explaining that the sounds which are “banging” have to be separated from other sounds in the ocean. He said: “The ocean is a very complex place, there are human sounds and nature sounds and it is difficult to determine the source of such sounds.”
In a statement on their website, deep water specialists Magellan said they were contacted by OceanGate on Monday and “immediately” offered knowledge of the site and expertise in operating at depth.
The company added that it has been working with UK and US agencies to move its specialist equipment and support crew to St John’s, Newfoundland, following instructions to mobilise from OceanGate.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) also said the UK-based Nato Submarine Rescue System (NSRS) team is available to offer expertise and guidance to the search operation.
But reports indicate the the depths involved in the search “greatly exceed” that which the NSRS can safely operate.
