A Canadian military aircraft picked up “underwater noises” as the desperate search for the missing Titanic submersible continues in the North Atlantic, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is investigating after a Canadian P-3 aircraft detected underwater noises in the search area where the Titan submersible disappeared on Sunday. The aircraft reportedly picked up “banging noises” detected at 30-minute intervals, Rolling Stone reported, citing internal email updates from the Department of Homeland Security’s National Operations Center.
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. 1/2
— USCGNortheast (@USCGNortheast) June 21, 2023
According to the DHS emails cited by the outlet, a Boeing P8 Poseidon, which has underwater detection capabilities from the air, was launched by the RCC Halifax. After deploying sonobuoys into the search area, the P8 detected banging sounds every thirty minutes. The banging was still present four hours later after additional sonar was deployed.
Though multiple underwater search efforts have been deployed to the area where the noises were reported, underwater drones searching for the missing submersible have not yet yielded any positive discoveries, NPR reported. After an underwater disaster, it is typical for a crew unable to communicate with the surface to bang on their ship’s hull in the hope it might be detected by sonar, The Associated Press reported. No official, however, has publicly suggested the noises are coming from the submersible, instead emphasizing the noises heard could come from a variety of sources, the outlet reported. (RELATED: ‘Dangerous Environment’: Titanic Expedition Leader Holding Out Little Hope For Lost Submersible)
The detection of sound, though, has offered a glimmer of hope and a renewed sense of desperation to those searching for the vessel as it is believed the 5-member crew has less than 24 hours of oxygen left, the outlet reported.