Titanic Sub Missing: Search Area Doubles As 96-Hr Life Window Closes In, Oxygen Wanes

A last-ditch search is underway for the missing Titanic-bound submersible with five people in it as the life window of 96 hours is dangerously closing in.

Rescue teams try 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 at the US coast guard base in Boston, Massachusetts. ( Image Source :Getty )

A desperate search is underway to rescue the Titanic-bound submersible with five people in it as the 96-hour life window closes in dangerously. The search area has been doubled in last-ditch efforts and authorities engaged in the rescue operations were still holding out hope, vowing to avail every available asset into the mission.

Captain Jamie Frederick of the First Coast Guard District said the crews were scouring an area twice the size of Connecticut in waters 2 1/2 miles deep. The Associated Press quoted him as saying, "This is a search and rescue mission, 100%,” he said. ”... We’ll continue to put every available asset that we have in an effort to find the Titan and the crew members.”

Here Are The 3 Major Developments

SEARCH AREA DOUBLED

With the submersible's oxygen supply expected to run out in a few hours, the area for the international search operation doubled to 'twice the size of the US state of Connecticut'. The US Coast Guard said remotely operated vehicles (ROV) were deployed underwater near where Canadian aircraft recorded the noises using sonar buoys on Tuesday and Wednesday but have not found any sign of the Titan yet, Reuters reported.

NEW SOUNDS DETECTED BUT MAY NOT BE FROM MISSING SUB

As new sounds detected on the third day gave some hope to rescue officials, Former US Navy nuclear submarine commander David Marquet warned that the sounds may not be coming from the Titan submersible. “I don’t think the noise is them, it could just be natural sounds. We’re hearing noises and more ships are coming into the area, and then we’re hearing more noises, and I don’t think that’s a coincidence,” he told the BBC.

ODDS OF SURVIVAL OF PASSENGERS LOW

As the 96-hour life window closes in with just a few hours of oxygen left in the sub, experts warned that the odds of survival of the passengers were low. It has been pointed out that several obstacles remain. From pinpointing the vessel’s location to reaching it with rescue equipment to bringing it to the surface - if it's still intact, everything has to be done before the passengers’ oxygen supply runs out. However, Capt Marquet said there are better chances now as the equipment needed to raise the Titan is now on its way to the area. “It’ll be desperately close because it needs to be found before then,” he said.

The wreck of the Titanic, the infamous ship that sank in April 1912, lies around 700km south of St. John's, Newfoundland, in Canada. The rescue mission for the missing sub is being run from Boston in Massachusetts and the US Coast Guard has said a research ship called the 'Polar Prince' had conducted a surface search for the sub on Monday evening. It is used to transport submersibles to the wreckage site and was the support ship on Sunday's tourist expedition.