Rescuers race to find Titanic sub after hearing undersea sounds | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Wednesday
June 11, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11, 2025
Rescuers race to find Titanic sub after hearing undersea sounds

World+Biz

TBS Report
21 June, 2023, 10:05 am
Last modified: 21 June, 2023, 04:36 pm

Related News

  • RAB detains youth over involvement in Mohammadpur girl’s disappearance, rescues her from Naogaon
  • Missing Bangladeshi tourist found in Thailand, faces overstay and drug charges
  • 'Maa will come on Eid day', says 4-yr-old Sadia unaware her mother 'trafficked' to India
  • Jon Landau, Oscar-winning Titanic and Avatar producer dies at 63
  • Why are old movies being played at Star Cineplex?

Rescuers race to find Titanic sub after hearing undersea sounds

TBS Report
21 June, 2023, 10:05 am
Last modified: 21 June, 2023, 04:36 pm
The Titan submersible, operated by OceanGate Expeditions to explore the wreckage of the sunken SS Titanic off the coast of Newfoundland, dives in an undated photograph. OceanGate Expeditions/Handout via REUTERS
The Titan submersible, operated by OceanGate Expeditions to explore the wreckage of the sunken SS Titanic off the coast of Newfoundland, dives in an undated photograph. OceanGate Expeditions/Handout via REUTERS

Rescue teams were racing on Wednesday to trace the origin of sounds heard from the depths of the North Atlantic in a 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 vehicle (ROV) searches 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.

"Those ROV searches have yielded negative results but continue," the US Coast Guard wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

The 21-foot (6.4-meter) submersible Titan, operated by US-based OceanGate Expeditions, began its descent at 8am (1200 GMT) on Sunday, according to the US Coast Guard. It lost contact with its parent surface vessel soon after that during what should have been a two-hour dive to the Titanic.

The mini-sub was designed to remain underwater for 96 hours, according to its specifications. That would give its occupants enough air until roughly 1200 GMT on Thursday, if it remained intact. Experts said a range of factors affected that deadline including whether it still had power in the icy depths.

The wreck of the British ocean liner, which sank when it hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage in 1912, lies on the seabed at a depth of about 12,500 feet (3,810 meters). It is about 900 miles (1,450km) east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and 400 miles south of St John's, Newfoundland.

Those aboard the submersible, the highlight of a tourist expedition that costs $250,000 per person, included British billionaire and adventurer Hamish Harding, 58, and Pakistani-born businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, with his 19-year-old son Suleman, who are both British citizens.

French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, and Stockton Rush, founder and chief executive of OceanGate Expeditions, were also reported to be on board. The authorities have not confirmed the identity of any passenger.

A friend of Harding, Jannicke Mikkelsen, who has accompanied the British entrepreneur on other expeditions, told Reuters on Tuesday she was hoping for good news but was not optimistic. "It would be a miracle if they are recovered alive," she said.

Teams from the United States, Canada and France have been involved in the search covering an area of open sea larger than the US state of Connecticut or about half the size of Belgium.

REPORTS OF 'BANGING' SOUNDS

Aircraft and ships from the US Coast Guard, US Navy and Canadian armed forces had combed more than 7,600 square miles (19,700 square km) of the North Atlantic, US Coast Guard Captain Jamie Frederick said on Tuesday.

The Canadian military dropped sonar buoys to listen for any sounds that might come from the Titan and a commercial pipeline-laying vessel with a remote-controlled deepwater submersible was also searching, he said.

A French research ship carrying a deep-sea diving robot submersible was dispatched to the area at the request of the US Navy and was expected to arrive later on Wednesday, France's Ifremer ocean science research institute said.

US Coast Guard said Canadian Lockheed P-3 Orion aircraft, which have sub-surface surveillance gear to trace submarines, detected the underwater noises in the search area on Tuesday.

Remote undersea equipment was deployed in the area where the sounds were detected and data from the P-3 aircraft was shared the US Navy experts "for further analysis which will be considered in future search plans," the US Coast Guard wrote in its Twitter statement.

It did not give details about the nature of the sounds, but CNN and Rolling Stone magazine, citing internal US government communications, reported Canadian aircraft detected banging sounds at 30-minute intervals in the area.

Rolling Stone said the sounds were picked up by sonar buoys and that sonar picked up more banging four hours later.

CNN, citing a US government memo, said additional sounds were heard about four hours after the banging was detected but said the second occurrence was not described as banging.

Experts say rescuers face major obstacles both in finding the Titan and in saving the people aboard.

In the event of a mid-dive emergency, Titan's pilot would likely have released weights to float back to the surface, said Alistair Greig, a marine engineering professor at University College London. But he said it would be difficult to locate the van-sized submersible in the Atlantic without any communication.

The submersible is sealed with bolts outside, preventing occupants escaping without assistance even if it surfaced.

If Titan were stuck on the ocean floor, a rescue effort would face even bigger challenges because of the huge pressures and total darkness at a depth of more than 2 miles. Titanic expert Tim Matlin said it would be "almost impossible to effect a sub-to-sub rescue" on the seabed.

The sinking of the Titanic, which killed more than 1,500 people, has long been immortalised in books and films. Popular interest was renewed by the 1997 blockbuster movie "Titanic".

Top News

Titanic / submersible / Missing Persons

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • File Photo of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus: UNB
    CA Yunus speaking at Chatham House on challenges, opportunities facing Bangladesh
  • File Photo: TBS
    DGHS issues 11-point directive to prevent spread of Covid-19 in Bangladesh
  • A man in a car uses his mobile phone as members of law enfocement stand guard on a road after curfew, as protests against federal immigration sweeps continue, in downtown Los Angeles, California, US June 10, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Millis
    Trump wants to 'liberate' Los Angeles, residents say 'no thanks'

MOST VIEWED

  • Illustration: Duniya Jahan/ TBS
    Forget Katy Perry, here’s Bangladesh’s Ruthba Yasmin shooting for the moon
  • A file photo of Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Ahsan H Mansur. Photo: Collected
    'I have no relation with this': Ahsan Mansur debunks Joy’s allegations over daughter’s Dubai flat
  • Faiz Ahmad Tayeb. Photo: BSS
    Import duty on raw materials for e-bikes, lithium batteries reduced from 80% to 1% in some cases: Faiz Taiyeb
  • Screengrab from video shows a group of local youths forcing tourists to leave a tourist spot in Utmachhra area of Sylhet's Companiganj on Sunday, 8 June 2025, citing allegations of obscene activities and environmental damage
    Locals declare tourist spot in Sylhet 'closed', force visitors to leave
  • Shakil Ahmed. Photo: Collected
    DU student allegedly hangs himself following threats over old derogatory comment about Prophet on Facebook
  • Photo shows the Land Cruiser Prado car belonging to former member of parliament (MP) Anwarul Azim Anar found in Kushtia. Photo: TBS
    Luxury car of ex-AL MP Anar, who was killed in Kolkata, found in Kushtia

Related News

  • RAB detains youth over involvement in Mohammadpur girl’s disappearance, rescues her from Naogaon
  • Missing Bangladeshi tourist found in Thailand, faces overstay and drug charges
  • 'Maa will come on Eid day', says 4-yr-old Sadia unaware her mother 'trafficked' to India
  • Jon Landau, Oscar-winning Titanic and Avatar producer dies at 63
  • Why are old movies being played at Star Cineplex?

Features

Illustration: Duniya Jahan/ TBS

Forget Katy Perry, here’s Bangladesh’s Ruthba Yasmin shooting for the moon

20h | Features
File photo of Eid holidaymakers returning to the capital from their country homes/Rajib Dhar

Dhaka: The city we never want to return to, but always do

2d | Features
Photo collage shows political posters in Bagerhat. Photos: Jannatul Naym Pieal

From Sheikh Dynasty to sibling rivalry: Bagerhat signals a turning tide in local politics

4d | Bangladesh
Illustration: TBS

Unbearable weight of the white coat: The mental health crisis in our medical colleges

6d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

When will the heat wave subside?

When will the heat wave subside?

19m | TBS Today
Covid-19 testing to resume at hospitals amid rising infections

Covid-19 testing to resume at hospitals amid rising infections

1h | TBS Today
Curfew ordered in downtown Los Angeles after looting and vandalism

Curfew ordered in downtown Los Angeles after looting and vandalism

2h | TBS World
Israel kidnapped me in international waters: Greta Thunberg

Israel kidnapped me in international waters: Greta Thunberg

3h | TBS World
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net