BOSTON: Rescue teams were racing on Wednesday to trace the origin of sounds heard from the depths of the North Atlantic in search for a tourist submersible with five people on board that vanished on its descent to the century-old wreck of the Titanic.
The US Coast Guard said remotely operated vehicles (ROV) were deployed in the area where Canadian aircraft detected the undersea noises on Tuesday, as the clock ticked in the last 24 hours of the missing craft’s presumed air supply. The 21-foot (6.4-meter) submersible Titan, operated by US-based OceanGate Expeditions, during its descent on Sunday lost contact with its parent surface vessel soon after that during what should have been a two-hour dive to the Titanic.
Those aboard include British billionaire Hamish Harding, Pakistan-born businessman Shahzada Dawood, and his son Suleman and French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet.