Authorities discovered a “debris field” near the wreck of the Titanic on Thursday while searching for the missing Titan submersible that disappeared on Sunday during a deep-sea voyage to view the famous shipwreck.
The U.S. Coast Guard said a remote operated vehicle (ROV) detected the “debris field” near the Titanic, which rests at 12,500 feet below the surface at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
It is unclear whether the debris is related to the missing vessel, but the Coast Guard noted “experts within the unified command are evaluating the information,” CBS News Boston reported.
If the submersible was still in one piece, its oxygen supply likely ran out Thursday morning, four days after the vessel vanished, officials said.
The U.S. Coast Guard estimated the Titan’s oxygen supply would fully evaporate by 7 a.m. ET.
There were 5 people on the vessel: British businessman Hamish Harding; Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman; French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet; and Stockton Rush, CEO of OceanGate, the company behind the unique tourism experience.
Earlier this week, Canadian authorities said they heard “banging sounds” coming from the ocean near the location that the submarine went missing, according to internal emails from the Department of Homeland Security’s National Operations Center.
“RCC Halifax launched a P8, Poseidon, which has underwater detection capabilities from the air,” the emails stated, according to Rolling Stone. “The P8 deployed sonobuoys, which reported a contact in a position close to the distress position. The P8 heard banging sounds in the area every 30 minutes. Four hours later additional sonar was deployed and banging was still heard.” The announcement did not state what time the banging was heard, or what was thought to have caused it.
This was a breaking news story. The details were periodically updated as more information became available.
