This information, prepared when the remains of the Titan had not yet been found, has been updated after the appearance in which the United States Coast Guard has reported on the implosion of the submersible and the death of its occupants.
It was not even clear about this episode, which appears in an internal US document and which the US Coast Guard later reported on Twitter. It was not known if they were referring to the same moment, nor at what moment it occurred, if it was Tuesday or before. It was only detailed that the noises were recorded by a Canadian plane that had launched several sonobuoys into the sea and received data from one of them.
This first noise was defined as a “knocking”, which was repeated at 30-minute intervals, although it has not been reported for how long it was produced. After this first detection, underwater drones were sent to track the area from which they came with “negative results.” In any case, the Coast Guard then assured that the search in that area was continuing.
A second sound detection
Four hours after the noises were identified, the devices sent to the area they detected more sounds, although in this case it was no longer clear whether it was a knock with a certain frequency or not. This second detection, at least, helped to better define the search vectors and at the time constituted “a continued hope that there are survivors,” according to the Coast Guard.
Underwater explorer David Gallo, a friend of one of the missing, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, was cautious when interpreting these sounds. Indeed, can be a sign that there are people alive under the sea, they even suggest that they may be making acoustic signals, as has happened in other searches; but Gallo remembers that in the case of the Malaysia Airlines plane, noise detected under the sea was also investigated. That happened in 2014 and the device has not yet been found.
In fact, former Admiral Chris Parry explained in those same hours on Sky News that the sounds may have a source other than the submersible because there is “a lot of noise generated in the ocean” and that even the Titanic itself “makes a lot of noise as the currents that run through it.
Marine officer Mike Welham was on the same television more optimistic. For him, the sounds of beating every 30 minutes indicated thatSomeone has “taken command” inside the submersible and is “putting out those thumps” in the form of a distress message.
New noises detected on Wednesday
The Coast Guard explained on Wednesday afternoon that noise had again been detected and that drones had been redirected to explore its source. This time it was not specified what type of noise it was or if it was being produced with a specific frequency.
Interpreting the meaning is therefore complex, but those sounds seemed to be one of the few clues or the only one in a blind search at the bottom of the sea, where conditions are very adverse. In fact, those who have participated in the routes to visit the Titanic assure that it is very difficult to find the ocean liner, despite its enormous size and its location. It is an environment where no light reaches, completely dark, cloudy, in which the Titan could be hidden by a layer of several meters of mud.
Finally, on Thursday afternoon, many unknowns were cleared up. The key to guide the search was not the sounds but the drones capable of tracking the seabed and sending images. The robot of the ship Horizon Arctic found the tail in the shape of the Titan’s cone. In total, five pieces of the submersible were found.
The main hypothesis is that the bathyscaphe imploded at the beginning of the voyage, at some point during the descent to the Titanic, after sending the last communication signal one hour and 45 minutes after the dive. The disposition of the remains of the boat indicate that it disintegrated before hitting the bottom, during the descent.
Furthermore, if the implosion had occurred later, it would have been picked up by the deployed sonobuoys. It had to happen, therefore, at a very early stage of this crisis.
The Coast Guard assured in the press conference on Thursday night that the noises detected must therefore have had a cause other than the Titan and in all probability were not related with his disappearance.
