Debris has been discovered in the search for the missing Titanic submersible, the US Coast Guard dramatically announced today.
Officials said the ‘debris field’ – meaning debris spread over an area – had been found by a remote operated vehicle (ROV) near to the famous wreck. Victor 6000, a French ROV that can reach depths of 20,000ft, has been searching on the ocean floor, while Canadian vessel Horizon Arctic has also deployed its own vehicle.
The world has been praying for a ‘miracle’ after rescuers estimated the vital oxygen supply would end at 12.08pm UK time (7.08am EST and 9.08pm Sydney).
Banging has been heard at 30 minute intervals from the depths of the Atlantic – possibly from the men striking the side of the sub – but it has not yet been located.
Today, Rear Admiral John Mauger, of the US Coast Guard, said the operation ‘remains an active search’ and he ‘remains hopeful’ thanks to ‘favourable’ weather conditions. Asked about the banging noises, he said initial analysis suggested they were ‘background ocean noise’ but this was still being examined.
Those stuck onboard the sub include British billionaire Hamish Harding, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, French navy veteran PH Nargeolet and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, who is just 19 and a student at Strathclyde University.
Despite fears their oxygen supplies have run out, there is still hope in the most desperate of situations. Experts believe that the 96-hour oxygen supply number is an imprecise estimate and could be extended if those on board have taken measures to conserve breathable air including lying still and even sleeping.
Guillermo Sohnlein founded OceanGate with Mr Rush in 2009 and earlier today said he believes that the window for finding them could go beyond the US Coast Guard’s prediction. He said: ‘Today will be a critical day in this search and rescue mission, as the sub’s life support supplies are starting to run low.
‘I’m certain that Stockton and the rest of the crew realised days ago that the best thing they can do to ensure their rescue is to extend the limits of those supplies by relaxing as much as possible. I firmly believe that the time window available for their rescue is longer than what most people think. I continue to hold out hope for my friend and the rest of the crew’.
Titan lost communication on Sunday while about 435 miles south of St John’s, Newfoundland, during a voyage to the Titanic off the coast of Canada. The last ‘ping’ of its homing device was heard on Sunday afternoon – directly above the world’s most famous wreck.
A Canadian Navy ship carrying medics specialising in treating health issues relating to deep-sea diving arrived on the scene this morning on the HMCS Glace Bay, according to officials.
They also brought a hyperbaric chamber – which can be used for decompressing divers after they return to the surface.
Above the wreck is a flotilla of at least ten ships, two robot subs and several aircraft scanning the Atlantic for any sign of Titan as sonar continues to hear a banging noise from the depths.
Speaking today to Sky News, Rear Admiral John Mauger confirmed the initial reports suggesting the noise heard by sonar buoys was ‘background ocean noise’.
‘We’ve taken that information and shared it with top leading experts from the US Navy and the Canadian Navy, and they’re working on the analysis of that information, they’re continuing to work on the analysis of that information,’ he said.
‘The initial reports is that there’s a lot of the sounds that were generated were from background ocean noise, but they continue to … look for all available information there.
‘What’s important to me, and what’s important as the unified command, is that we’ve continued search in the areas where noise was detected with the ROVs that we have from the time of that detection, so we’re not waiting for this analysis to take action.
‘The analysis is really helpful to our overall search-and-rescue efforts, but we’re not waiting on it, we’ve moved the remote operated vehicles that we’ve had on site to those areas where noise was detected.’
Shipping experts Marine Traffic have shared an animation of the ships rushing to the search zone. Titan’s mothership Polar Prince has been searching the area since Sunday and is zig-zagging the site in the hope that it will appear on the surface or get back in contact after communications cut out more than 72 hours ago.
