More ships and underwater vessels are heading to the North Atlantic as the hunt for a submersible that vanished on the way to the wreckage of the Titanic zeroes in on the area "banging" noises have been heard.
The sounds sparked hope the five adventurers on board the Titan submersible missing since Sunday were still alive but even those who expressed some optimism warned many obstacles remained.
At a briefing on Wednesday afternoon (Thursday morning AEST), US Coast Guard first district Captain Jamie Frederick stressed the sounds were "inconclusive" but said "when you're in the middle of a search and rescue case, you always have hope".
"We don't know what they are, to be frank with you," he said.
"The P3 (search plane) detected noises. That's why they're up there. That's why they're doing what they're doing. That's why they put sonar buoys in the water.
"The good news is — what I can tell you, is we're searching in the area where the noises were detected, and we'll continue to do so."
Several more search vessels, including a "state-of-the-art" remote-operated vehicle from France, would arrive at the search area in the next 24 to 48 hours, Frederick said.
Lost aboard the vessel are pilot Stockton Rush, the CEO of the company leading the expedition. His passengers are a British adventurer, two members of a Pakistani business family and a Titanic expert.
Rescuers faced a race against the clock because even under the best of circumstances the vessel was expected to run out of oxygen by Thursday morning (Thursday during the day AEST).
In addition to an international array of ships and planes, an underwater robot had started searching in the vicinity of the Titanic and there was a push to get salvage equipment to the scene in case the sub is found.
Authorities reported the carbon-fibre vessel overdue on Sunday night, setting off the search in waters about 700 kilometres south of St John's.
The submersible had a four-day oxygen supply when it put to sea about 6am on Sunday, according to David Concannon, an adviser to OceanGate Expeditions, which oversaw the mission.
Timeline: How the expedition unfolded
Friday, June 16
- Polar Prince departs St John's, Newfoundland, with submersible Titan on board
Sunday, June 18
- Polar Prince reaches the submersible launch site
- One hour and 45 minutes later communications with Titan are lost
- Vessel reported overdue at 9.13pm local time (12.13pm Monday AEST)
- Rescue mission is launched involving US and Canadian coast guards
Monday, June 19
- Rear Admiral John Mauger of the US Coast Guard says the submersible has between 70 and 96 hours of oxygen left
- It's confirmed the submersible had the full complement of five people on board, including UK billionaire Hamish Harding
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