A Canadian search aircraft reportedly detected “banging” sounds from the last known location of the missing Titanic tourist submarine, according to The Independent.
RELATED: Submarine Bound For Titanic With Five People Goes Missing, About 50 Hours Of Oxygen Left
The P-3 aircraft search crew says they heard the sounds from the Atlantic Ocean every 30 minutes on Tuesday. They heard it again four hours later after deploying more sonar instruments, the outlet reports.
“Banging” Sounds Reportedly Heard, But U.S. Coast Guard, Former NATO Commander Temper Expectations
While the news is encouraging, the U.S. Coast Guard has denied hearing the sound, Petty Officer 3rd Class Briana Carter tells PEOPLE.
“We don’t have anything at this time indicating any implosion or banging. [But we’re] working closely with U.S. Navy experts for further analysis” [of the noises].”
Additionally, former NATO Commander of Submarines Roger Lane Nott told Talk TV that any sound is unlikely to be “hull banging.”
He added that search crews would have heard the sound every five minutes if the tourists were deliberately making the noise to get rescuers’ attention.
Meanwhile, rescue efforts have intensified for the five missing divers as their OceanGate Titan submersible has at most 20 hours left of emergency oxygen supply.
Roger Lane Nott says he doubts sounds reported are hull banging – Says you’d be doing it every 5 mins if you were trying to get attention. #Titan #TitanicSub #OceanGate #OceanGateExpeditions pic.twitter.com/8pkBPSuiW4
— 🅲🅷🆁🅸🆂-🆃 🅾 🅴-🅿🅷🅴🆁 (@punkrockdub) June 21, 2023
OceanGate Says It’s “Mobilizing All Options To Bring Crew Back,” Submersible Safety Concerns Abound
ABC News reported Tuesday (June 20) that the submarine has likely descended below the levels of NATO rescue crew capabilities.
However, the U.S. Coast Guard and Canadian Coast Guard remain involved in rescue efforts as of Wednesday.
OceanGate offers eight-day missions to scour the Titanic debris for $250,000 per person. It’s unclear if anyone aboard was a paying customer.
In the meantime, the company said it is “exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely.”
Concerns regarding the submarine’s safety emerged shortly after it went missing Sunday. A subsequent report by Forbes found that a video game controller, starting price of $30, controlled the submarine.
This is a developing story. Be sure to check in with The Shade Room for more updates as they come.
