Time ticking for the missing Titanic sub! Less oxygen left now, but underwater noises heard

The technologically advanced submersible vessel, carrying five people to document the wreckage of the Titanic, went missing on Sunday night, around 435 m south of St. John’s, Newfoundland.

Here is all that we need to know about the mishap
Those participating in the rescue missions are in a race against time to locate the said submersible tourist vessel that went missing on Sunday in the North Atlantic, during a voyage to the Titanic shipwreck with five people on board. As per the records, the five people comprised one pilot and four ‘mission specialists’.

Reportedly, there is only enough oxygen on the submersible to last around 70 to 96 hours. The 21-foot vessel had four days of emergency capability.
Reports have it that crews with the US and Canadian coast guards are hunting the ocean’s surface around 900 m east of Cape Cod, and have been using sonar to listen for sounds far below the water, which is around 13,000 ft deep in the area.

Who were onboard?

A British billionaire and chairman of aviation consultancy Hamish Harding; Shahzada Dawood, who is the Vice Chairman of one of the Pakistan’s biggest conglomerates, and his son; 77-year-old French explorer Paul Henri Nagerolet; and Stockton Rush, who is the founder and CEO of the vessel's US-based operating company OceanGate are among the five people who are feared to be running out of air after contact was lost with the small vessel.

Watch video: Interesting facts about the Titanic!

All about the vessel

The submersible, used to take people to see the wreckage of the Titanic, went missing with its crew on board in the Atlantic Ocean. It belonged to OceanGate Expeditions, a company that deploys manned submersibles for deep sea expeditions.

OceanGate announced on social media that its expedition to the shipwreck was underway, describing the 7-night trip as a "chance to step outside of everyday life and discover something truly extraordinary."

Now, it has issued a statement confirming the missing submersible is theirs and that a rescue operation had been launched to find and recover it.

The wreckage of the Titanic ship was discovered in 1985, deep at the bottom of the Atlantic ocean, which has been extensively explored ever since.

Read more: Interesting facts about the Titanic

Latest development

As per the reports, a Canadian aircraft searching for the missing submersible, Titan, in the Atlantic Ocean detected intermittent banging noises from the vicinity of the last known location of the divers.

The crew on the rescue mission heard banging sounds every 30 minutes on Tuesday, and again four hours later, after additional sonar devices were deployed.