A man who dived down to the wreck of the Titanic has listened to the banging noise rescuers heard when frantically searching for the missing Titan sub and has given his thoughts on what it was.
The Titanic Sub disaster engulfed people across the world last year after people tragically died on board a submersible after it dived down to the wreck of the lost ship.
Contact with those on board was lost around one. hour and 45 minutes after they embarked on the trip on June 18. It sparked a mass-scale search effort to find those on board, which include Hamish Harding, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Shahzada Dawood, Suleman Dawood, and the CEO of the subermisable company, OceanGate, Stockton Rush.
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Audio from the Titan sub search was released this week as part of a new documentary from ITN called The Titan Sub Disaster: Minute by Minute.
The film intends to follow the sub’s dive down to the wreck of the sunken vessel, Titanic, and what lessons have been learned after the sad deaths of those on board.
Whilst search and rescue were looking for the lost vessel, a rhythmic banging noise was heard, which gave hope maybe the victims were still alive. Picked up by the Canadian Air Force, a banging was heard every 30 minutes, which some believed was the occupants attempting to signal for aid.
At the time, experts urged they didn’t know for sure what the banging noise was.
Officials later concluded the sub imploded on the day it had gone missing, most likely when it lost contact.
Dik Barton, the first British man and former president of RMS Titanic Inc, who dove down to the wreck of the Titanic previously, explained he didn’t think the banging noise was a signal from those missing.
He told LADBible it sounded “mechanical”: “It sounds like a chain that’s slipping on a cog, or windlass, or some kind of wind system, which is highly possible because there’s a huge amount of activity underwater and out in that ocean, that part of the sea.
“You’ve got submarine cable laying systems, you’ve got obviously the normal traffic. Even propeller noises can be misconstrued as all sorts of different indications.”
Barton added mariners and submariners would use an SOS signal to transmit a Mayday message for help.
He explained sound travels “1,500 meters a second underwater” so rescuers attempting to find where the noise was coming from would have been difficult.
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