Canadian assets overheard "banging noises" in the search for the missing Titan submersible on multiple occasions over the past two days, authorities confirmed during a briefing Wednesday at the U.S. Coast Guard base in Boston.
The sounds first registered Tuesday, and deep-sea remote-operated vehicles, or ROVs, "immediately" responded to the area, according to USCG Capt. Jamie Frederick. The data has been shared with the U.S. Navy for expert analysis.
Carl Hartsfield, a retired Navy captain and a scientist from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, said during the briefing that the noises had been "described as banging," but authorities did not elaborate.
"I can't tell you what the noises are," Frederick said. "But what I can tell you, and I think that this is the most important point, is that we're searching where the noises are."
The OceanGate Titan submersible is missing, along with five people on board: OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, the adventurous British businessman Hamish Harding, and father-and-son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood, who are members of one of Pakistan’s wealthiest families, and Paul-Henry Nargeolet, a former French navy officer and leading Titanic expert.
Naval and civilian assets from the U.S. and Canada expanded the search area to twice the size of Connecticut for a 21-foot submersible that could be trapped more than 3,800 meters below sea level at the ocean floor, Frederick said Wednesday.
ROV assets in the vicinity are capable of reaching as deep as 4,000 meters, he said.
"This is a search-and-rescue mission, 100%," he said.
WEATHER FORECAST FOR FINAL HOURS AS RESCUE CREWS WORK TO FIND MISSING TITANIC TOURIST SUBMERSIBLE
The Coast Guard previously said that Canadian rescuers picked up "underwater noises" in the vicinity but would not confirm that they came from someone "banging" or "tapping."
Authorities were still looking into the source of the sounds Wednesday morning, and at least five additional surface vessels are expected to join the effort by Thursday morning, along with additional ROVs.
SEARCH FOR MISSING TITANIC TOURIST SUB CONTINUES IN RACE AGAINST TIME
The Titan vanished Sunday during an attempt to visit the shipwreck of the Titanic about 900 miles east of Cape Cod.
The crew had only an estimated 16 to 17 hours left of breathable air as of 1 p.m. Wednesday.
