Underwater noise detected in search area of ​​submarine heading for Titanic wreck, Coast Guard says

Underwater noises have been detected in the search area for a sub that disappeared while transporting five people to the remains of the titanicsays the US Coast Guard

In a tweet on Wednesday just after midnight EDTthe Coast Guard said the noises were picked up by Canadian P-3 aircraft and as a result, underwater operations were relocated to try to locate the source of the noises.

Those operations have yet to yield any results, but underwater operations are continuing, the Coast Guard said, adding that “data from the P-3 aircraft was shared with our US Navy experts for further analysis to be will consider in future search plans.”

Richard Garriott of Cayeux, president of the Explorers Club, said in a letter to club members that “there is reason for hope, based on field data: we understand that probable signs of life have been detected at the site.” One of the passengers on the submarine, British magnate Hamish Harding, helped found the club’s board of directors. The club, which began in 1904, describes itself as “a multidisciplinary professional society dedicated to the advancement of field research, scientific exploration, and resource conservation.”

The submersible had less than 40 hours of breathable air remaining as of Tuesday nightthe Coast Guard said. She had about 96 hours of oxygen max on board when she began her dive, authorities said.

A Canadian research vessel contact lost with the ship during a dive Sunday morning about 900 miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and US and Canadian authorities have been searching for it.

Coast Guard Capt. Jamie Frederick told reporters during a news conference Tuesday afternoon that “about 40 hours of breathable air” was an estimate based on the ship’s original 96 hours of available oxygen.

Chief Petty Officer Robert Simpson, a Coast Guard spokesman, said there would not be a “hard and fast” transition from a search-and-rescue mission to a recovery operation when those hours are up, as there were several factors that could widen the search. .

Frederick said authorities were working around the clock to search for the missing submarine in the Atlantic, calling the effort “an incredibly complex operation.”

“We will do everything in our power to effect a rescue,” Frederick said. “…There’s a full-court press effort to get the team on the scene as quickly as possible.”

Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood; his son Suleman; Hamish Harding, the British businessman; and the French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet they were in the submarinealong with Stockton Rush, CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, the American company that planned the trip.

If the submarine is found in time, Frederick said, it was difficult to describe what a deep-sea rescue would entail.

“That’s a question that experts then have to look at what is the best course of action to recover the submarine, but I think it will depend on that particular situation,” he said.

The Coast Guard said the last recorded communication from the submarine was approximately one hour and 45 minutes after the dive on Sunday.

Since the submarine went missing, the US and Canadian Coast Guards, Navy and US Air National Guard have combed a combined area of ​​approximately 7,600 square miles, which is larger than the state of Connecticut, Fredrick said.

A pipe-laying ship arrived in the search area on Tuesday and sent a remote-controlled vehicle into the water to search for the submarine at its last known position, it said.

The US Navy was working on deploying military assets to aid in the search, Frederick said.