Missing Titanic Submersible: More ships join search efforts

Three more vessels have joined the international effort in finding the submersible that went missing over the weekend with five people on board during a dive to the wreckage of the Titanic.

Noises heard from beneath the waves of the North Atlantic on Tuesday and the Coast Guard said it was looking for the source of the noises, reports The New York Post.

Captain Jamie Frederick of the United States Coast Guard said remotely operated vehicles are seeking the source of the sounds, and a team of experts is examining the noises to determine if they might be from the missing vessel. But so far, he said, that analysis has been "inconclusive."

More rescue vessels have arrived in the vast search area — roughly twice the size of Connecticut and more than two miles deep — where teams of international experts have been conducting an extensive search for the craft, called the Titan. The 22-foot submersible lost contact on Sunday during what should have been a two-and-a half-hour journey to the wreck of the Titanic.

Here are the latest details:

Captain Frederick reiterated that the mission continues to be a search-and-rescue operation, although officials have said they are operating under the assumption that the submersible would run out of oxygen sometime Thursday morning. "We need to have hope," he said. Here's a look at the craft's limited air supply.

Rolling Stone magazine reported that a Canadian search plane had detected "banging sounds" in 30-minute intervals within the search area. The report, based on internal communications from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, could not be independently verified. Here's what could be making the noises.

One of the ships heading to the search area is carrying a French-operated robot capable of operating at the depth where the Titanic sits. It is not expected to reach the scene until Wednesday evening. Here's a closer look at some of the search vessels.

Leaders in the submersible craft industry had warned for years of possible "catastrophic" problems with the vehicle's design. They also worried that OceanGate Expeditions, the Titan's owner, had not followed standard certification procedures. Read our reporting on the company.

Stockton Rush, the chief executive of OceanGate, was piloting the submersible, according to the company. The other four passengers are Hamish Harding, a British businessman and explorer; a British-Pakistani businessman, Shahzada Dawood, and his teenage son, Suleman; and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a French maritime expert who has been on more than 35 dives to the Titanic wreck site.