When the Titan submersible disappeared on Sunday, they had 96 hours of life support. As we enter Wednesday's early morning hours, time is quickly running out for the five men trapped in the seacraft. Some of those missing are Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood, and his son, Sulaiman. Harding and Dawood are billionaires; Dawood is the wealthiest man in Pakistan. At $250,000 per head, this is a rich man’s trip, though fraught with danger. The search grid covers at least 10,000 square miles though no trace of the Titan had been found until late Tuesday night. There could be signs of life as some banging sounds could be detected on sonar in 30-minute intervals near the location where the Titan lost contact (via WLBT):
The Titan crew has around ~33 hrs of oxygen left. Banging sounds were heard by sonobuoys, believed to be the passengers signaling their location. I can’t even imagine the horror. Awful situation all around. https://t.co/gyHwYdjUAl
— Lauren Lee Malloy (@LaurenLee_915) June 21, 2023
Banging sounds heard during search for missing submersible on Tuesday, according to internal US government memo. https://t.co/TrQbbWMks7
— CNN (@CNN) June 21, 2023
NEW. ⚠️Crews searching for the #Titan submersible heard banging sounds every 30 minutes Tuesday and four hours later, after additional sonar devices were deployed, banging was still heard, according to an internal government memo update on the search. (1/4) #titanic #Submersible pic.twitter.com/b6iItRINqB
— Josh Benson (@WFLAJosh) June 21, 2023
“Additional acoustic feedback was heard and will assist in vectoring surface assets and also indicating continued hope of survivors,” according to that update. (3/4)
— Josh Benson (@WFLAJosh) June 21, 2023
A Canadian P3 aircraft also located a white rectangular object in the water, according to that update, but another ship set to investigate was diverted to help research the acoustic feedback instead, according to that update. (4/4) (via @CNN - first reported on @RollingStone)
— Josh Benson (@WFLAJosh) June 21, 2023
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United States Coast Guard officials helping to coordinate the search for the Titan submersible say they have heard banging sounds, according to a CNN report.
Crews reported hearing banging sounds every 30 minutes on Tuesday, according to an internal U.S. government memo obtained by CNN. Additional sonar devices reportedly confirmed that sounds were still audible.
The submersible was first reported missing Sunday night with five people onboard for a dive to the Titanic wreckage.
TITANIC ACCIDENT. When I was at ABC News, I became the first TV correspondent in history to report from the wreck of the Titanic at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, 2-1/2 miles below the surface. An accident happened that almost claimed my life. Here's what happened. #Titanic… pic.twitter.com/b4t3WtaRdc
— Dr. Michael Guillen (@DrMGuillen) June 19, 2023
There have been concerns that the Titan is caught in the wreckage of the famed ocean liner. That was captured on video when in 2000, then-ABC science editor Dr. Michael Guillen almost died visiting the wreck. Some theorize that a power failure led to the loss of contact. At any rate, while this is a promising sign, time could become the biggest enemy.
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