Underwater sounds heard in search for sub

1. The US Coast Guard has confirmed that a Canadian P-3 aircraft detected "underwater noises" in a search area for the missing Titanic sub
2. US media, citing internal US government memos, described them as "banging sounds"
3. It is unclear when and how long the banging lasted, according to Rolling Stone and CNN
4. Contact with the miniature sub which has five people on board was lost on Sunday as it made a 3,800m descent to the Titanic wreck off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada
5. Search authorities estimate the vessel has less than 30 hours of oxygen left
6. British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman are on board, along with British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding
7. Paul-Henry Nargeolet, a former French Navy diver who has explored the Titanic before, is also on the vessel, as is Stockton Rush, chief executive of OceanGate - the firm behind the dive

We're closing this page and starting a new one - join us there

Our live coverage of the search for the missing Titan sub, with five people on board, continues on a new page.

We've had the first signs of hope come through in the past two hours - search authorities say they have detected "underwater noises" in the search area.

Follow along here.

Hamish Harding's friend describes last conversation

A friend of Hamish Harding - one of the five on board the Titan - describes the 58-year-old British adventurer's final words before he set off on his Titanic dive.

Jannicke Mikkelsen also told the BBC she's "terrified" and "not sleeping" as rescue efforts continue.

Missing Titanic sub: Friend of Hamish Harding ‘sick to stomach’ with nerves

US Coast Guard tweet follows media reports of 'banging sounds'

Here is that tweet from the US Coast Guard's Northeast Command, confirming the reports of sounds being detected by a Canadian search plane.

In the hour prior this tweet, two US media outlets had reported a leaked US Department of Homeland Security memo which said "banging sounds" had been detected by a Canadian aircraft equipped with underwater detection capabilites.

US First Coast Guard District

US Coast Guard confirms "underwater sounds" in a tweet

BreakingUS Coast Guard confirms 'underwater noises'

The US Coast Guard has just tweeted confirming that a Canadian P-3 aircraft "detected underwater noises in the search area".

This is the first official confirmation from search authorities of the information being reported by US media, although they did not specify "banging" sounds.

As a result of the pick-up, the US Coast Guard said they had relocated operations. So far those searchers "have yielded negative results".

'Banging was still heard' four hours after first detection

The internal US Department of Homeland Security memos being reported say the underwater banging sounds could be heard for hours.

After the inital pick-up by a Candian aircraft, additional sonar was deployed to the area four hours later where "banging was still heard".

CNN is also reporting an updated memo sent Tuesday night, which suggested more sounds were picked up.

“Additional acoustic feedback was heard and will assist in vectoring surface assets and also indicating continued hope of survivors,” said the second memo according to CNN's report.

'Banging' heard in 30-minute intervals

US media is reporting emails which say a Canadian search aircraft detected "banging" in 30-minute intervals coming from the area where the sub disappeared.

It is unclear when and how long the banging lasted.

The internal memos - reported by both Rolling Stone and CNN - say:

“The P8 [seacraft] 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 Boston Coast Guard, which is leading the search and rescue effort, has declined requests for comments on the reported “banging” sounds.

Breaking'Banging sounds' heard during search- US media reports

An underwater sonar search on Tuesday picked up "banging sounds" from the missing sub, CNN and Rolling Stone magazine are reporting.

The outlets are citing internal US government memos, with Rolling Stone reporting an email sent to the Department of Homeland Security leadership.

The BBC is seeking comment from the department.

OceanGate asked UK deep ocean specialists to help

Magellan, a British firm that specialises in deep ocean investigations and recovery operations, has said it is supporting the rescue mission for the Titan.

The company said in a statement on its website it had experience operating at even deeper depths.

Magellan said it was contacted by OceanGate early on Monday and "immediately offered our knowledge of the specific site and also our expertise operating at depth considerably in advance of what is required for this incident".

"We have been working full-time with UK and US agencies to secure the necessary air support to move our specialist equipment and support crew.

"We are ready to support, and we are fully mobilised to help," the firm said.

Third full day of rescue efforts continue overnight

As we near midnight in Newfoundland, here's a summary of search efforts for the Titan so far:

• US Coast Guard commanders continue to lead the complex search over an area of ocean "larger than the state of Connecticut" - about 20,000 sq. km
• Rescue teams from Canada's navy, air force and coast guard, as well as the New York state air guard are assisting
• A French research vessel has also joined the search
• The Titan submersible is thought to be approximately 900 miles (1,450km) east and 400 miles (643km) south of Newfoundland's capital, St John's
• Contact was lost with the sub one hour and 45 minutes into its two hour dive down to the Titanic wreck site which lies at a depth of 3,800m.
• According to US Coast Guard estimates, the Titan has roughly 30 hours of oxygen remaining on board

Reuters

At a port in St John's, US Air Force equipment is loaded onto the Horizon Arctic, one of the vessels deployed to the search area

OceanGate fired expert who warned about Titan safety in 2018

Mike Wendling

BBC News

David Lochridge

Submarine expert David Lochridge was fired after flagging up safety issues

A submarine expert who worked for OceanGate – the company that operates the missing submersible – warned of potential safety problems in 2018, according to US court documents.

David Lochridge moved from Scotland to Washington state to work for the firm. In a BBC interview in 2017 he enthused about the mission and said it was "destined for the sea".

But less than a year later he warned his bosses that flaws in the Titan's carbon hull might go undetected without more stringent testing, and urged the company to have an outside agency certify the vessel.

He said his verbal warnings were ignored until he wrote a report and was called into a meeting with several officials - including OceanGate chief executive Stockton Rush, who is aboard the missing submersible.

OceanGate responded by firing Lochridge. The company sued him for revealing confidential information, and the submarine expert countersued for unfair dismissal. The lawsuit was later settled. Through his lawyer, Lochridge declined to comment today.

Court documents also state that Lochridge learned that the manufacturers of the Titan’s forward viewport only certified it to a depth of 1,300 metres. The Titanic wreck lies 3,800 metres below the ocean surface.

Who is on board?

Dawood family

Suleman and Shahzada Dawood

If you're just catching up on this story, here's a quick reminder of who the five passengers on board the missing submersible are:

• Hamish Harding, 58, a British adventurer who has previously been to space and - multiple times - to the South Pole
• British businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, a member of one of Pakistan's richest families and a supporter of two charities founded by King Charles
• His son Suleman Dawood, a 19-year-old student
• Paul-Henry Nargeolet, 77, a former French Navy diver who has reportedly spent more time at the Titanic wreck than any other explorer and was part of the first expedition to visit it in 1987
• Stockton Rush, 61, the chief executive of OceanGate, the firm that operates the Titanic voyages

Here is what we know about them.

WATCH: What we know about the missing Titanic sub

What we know about the missing Titanic sub... in 75 seconds

Canada sends navy ship with hyperbaric chamber

HMCS Glace Bay / Facebook

The search mission continues to expand, with Canada's Department of National Defence saying a number of vessels are on the way.

A Royal Canadian Navy ship equipped with a six-person mobile hyperbaric recompression chamber is en route.

If the sub is located, the recompression chambers on board this ship can be used to treat or prevent decompression sickness. When divers are exposed to rapid decreases in pressure, nitrogen forms bubbles in tissue and blood.

The ship, called the HMCS Glace Bay, is also carrying a medical team specialising in dive medicine.

A Canadian Coast Guard Ship, the Terry Fox, is already at the scene, and will soon be joined by two others, the Ann Harvey and the John Cabot.

The vessels will be on standby to load search and rescue equipment and personnel.

A Royal Canadian Air Force aircraft has already been providing support with surface and sub-surface search operations in the area.

'A challenging rescue operation with unknown outcomes'

Getty Images

US Senator Mark Kelly

US Senator Mark Kelly, a former Nasa astronaut and US Navy captain, has said he feels for the families whose loved ones are aboard the missing Titanic submersible.

"It's a risky environment you're operating in," he told CBS News of the rescue efforts, during a brief interview at the US Capitol.

Drawing on his experiences in outer space, he said: "A submarine like that has similar systems to a spacecraft. You've got to scrub out CO2, you've got to provide a breathable atmosphere. We've got the opposite pressure problem in space."

"This is going to be a challenging rescue operation with unknown outcomes.

"I encourage everybody that can work positively to bring these five individuals home to work on this in a collaborative way."

What's the latest?

How the search for the submarine is unfolding

Time is running out for the five passengers aboard the missing submersible after hours of search and rescue that have yielded no results. Here's what we've learned today:

• The missing submersible has less than 40 hours of oxygen left, based on previous estimates
• Search and rescue operations have covered an area of 7,600 sq miles (19, 650 sq. km) - larger than the US state of Connecticut
• A US Coast Guard spokesman said the search was "very complex" but experts will "do everything in our power to effect a rescue" if the sub was located
• OceanGate confirmed its CEO Stockton Rush is aboard the submersible
• Experts in the industry had expressed concerns about OceanGate's Titan vessel in a 2018 letter to the CEO, the New York Times reported
• A remotely operated vehicle with a camera on board has been exploring the last known location of the sub
• The US military has deployed planes, equipment and subject matter experts to support search and rescue operations
• A French research vessel has also joined the search

'A rock in the middle of the north Atlantic'

Nadine Yousif

Reporting from St John's, Newfoundland

The premier of the Canadian province of Newfoundland says he has been in contact with the US ambassador to Canada to offer assistance with the ongoing search and rescue mission.

“We’re all very troubled with what is happening off our shores,” Andrew Furey told our correspondent Nomia Iqbal in St John’s.

He adds that his thoughts are with the five people on board the submersible and their families.

“I can’t fathom the degree of anxiety, sadness and angst that they are all feeling right now.”

Furey says his province - “a rock in the middle of the north Atlantic” - has a complicated and sometimes tragic history with the ocean.

He recalls an exploratory rig that sank in 1982 on Valentine’s Day east of St John’s, with 84 people on board.

“There is scarcely a family in Newfoundland and Labrador whose immediate history has not been touched by a marine tragedy,” he says.

He is holding out hope, however, that the rescue mission will end with good news.

“We’re not hopeless,” he says. “We do hope that this rescue mission is fruitful.”

Three US military planes on the way to help search

New York National Guard

Three C-17 military aircraft have been deployed by the US to support search and rescue operations in Newfoundland.

The planes are carrying "commercial, rescue-related cargo and equipment" from Buffalo, New York to the city of St John's, the Pentagon's deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said.

She said all three planes had left Buffalo and would be landing in St John's this evening.

Rumours swirl near OceanGate's boat yard

Max Matza

Reporting from Everett, Washington

BBC

The Port of Everett is a popular place for mariners in the northern Puget Sound area of Washington state.

More than a dozen companies, like OceanGate, are based here. But OceanGate is the only company that makes underwater submersibles here, port workers tell me.

Corie Reed, the owner of the Seas the Day coffeeshop, says that more than half of her customers are regulars - since many both live on their boats and work in the port's administrative offices.

She's served Stockton Rush, the owner of OceanGate who is now missing, and his employees many times in the past year, she says.

After returning from a recent trip to see the Titanic, Reed says OceanGate workers told her baristas all about their unique view of the famous shipwreck.

"Lots of people are coming in and talking about it," Reed told me about the missing sub.

"People are saying how scary it is, and 'they have x amount of oxygen left'," she says.

But as someone who is not personally involved in shipping, she says she has "no idea" how likely the submersible is to be found.

"Lots of rumours," she says. "But it's always a rumor mill here."

Submersible experts wrote to OceanGate CEO expressing concern

The New York Times has unearthed a 2018 letter sent by submersible experts to Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate.

The authors of the letter expressed "unanimous concern" over the approach taken by OceanGate when building the Titan and warned of potential "catastrophic" issues with its design.

They also said OceanGate was making "misleading" claims about its design exceeding established industry safety standards and urged Rush to institute a prototype testing program reviewed and witnessed by an accredited registrar.

"It is our unanimous view that this validation process by a third-party is a critical component in the safeguards that protect all submersible occupants," the letter read.

The NYT said a spokesperson for OceanGate declined to comment

What do we know about the Titan?

Reuters

• Weighs about 23,000lbs (10,432kg)
• Its length is 6.7m (22ft)

• Capable of reaching depths of up to 4,000m (13,123ft) below sea level
• Four electric thrusters help it reach speeds of about 3 knots (3mph; 4km/h)

• When it dives, GPS is not an option. The Titan has a special text messaging system allows the crew to receive instructions from the team on the surface vessel above
• The pilot steers with a modified video game controller