Underwater noises have been detected in the search area of a sub that disappeared while carrying five people to the the remains of the Titanicsays the US Coast Guard.
In a tweet Wednesday shortly after midnight EDTthe Coast Guard said the noises were picked up by Canadian P-3 aircraft, and as a result underwater operations were moved to try to locate the source of the noises.
Those operations have yet to yield results, but underwater operations are continuing, the Coast Guard said, adding that “Data from the P-3 aircraft has been shared with our US Navy experts to further analysis to be considered in future search plans.”
Richard Garriott de Cayeux, president of the Explorers Club, said in a letter to club members that “there is reason for hope, based on data from the field: we understand that probable signs of life have been detected on the spot”. One of the submarine’s passengers, British businessman Hamish Harding, helped found the club’s board of directors. The club, which was started in 1904, describes itself as “a multidisciplinary professional society dedicated to the advancement of field research, scientific exploration and resource conservation.”
The submersible had There are less than 40 hours of breathable air left as of Tuesday evening, the Coast Guard said. He had a maximum of about 96 hours of oxygen on board when he began his dive, officials said.
A Canadian research vessel lost contact with the ship during a dive early Sunday morning about 900 miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and U.S. and Canadian authorities have been searching for him.
Ocean Gate / Brochure / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Coast Guard Capt. Jamie Frederick told reporters during a news conference Tuesday afternoon that “about 40 hours of breathing air left” was an estimate based on the ship’s original 96 hours of available oxygen.
Chief Petty Officer Robert Simpson, a spokesman for the Coast Guard, 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 there are several factors that could prolong 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 press effort across the court to get the team in as soon as we can.”
Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood; his son Suleman; Hamish Harding, the British tycoon; and the French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet they were in the submarinealong with Stockton Rush, CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, the US-based company that planned the trip.
If the sub is found in time, Frederick said, it was hard to describe what a deep-sea rescue would entail.
“That’s a question that the experts then have to look at as to 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 diver was about an hour and 45 minutes after Sunday’s dive.
Since the submarine went missing, the U.S. and Canadian coast guards and the U.S. Navy and Air National Guard have combed a combined area of about 7,600 square miles, which is larger than the state of Connecticut, he said Frederick Tuesday.
A pipe-laying vessel arrived in the search area on Tuesday and sent a remotely operated vehicle into the water to search for the submarine in its last known position, he said.
Frederick said the U.S. Navy was working on deploying military assets to assist in the search.
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Alex Sundby
