Underwater noises heard in search for missing sub near Titanic wreck

The search for a submersible vessel that went missing near the wreck of the Titanic has been relocated after noises were heard in the area.

A Canadian P-3 plane - using sonar buoys - heard underwater sounds which US Navy experts are now analysing.

Crews have been exploring the source of the noise on Wednesday in a remote part of the North Atlantic.

There may be as little as a day's worth of oxygen left on the vessel if it remains intact.

The US Coast Guard did not provide further details on what the noises could be. According to an internal US government memo seen by several media outlets, banging was heard at 30-minute intervals on Tuesday.

Additional sonar was used four hours after the sounds were first detected and noises could still be heard, officials said.

Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) have been deployed to the area but have not found anything further.

CNN

and ROLLING STONE first reported the potential development. However, according to both, the government memo does not say exactly when the sound was heard on Tuesday.

Deep-sea experts told the BBC that it is hard to determine what these noises might be without seeing the data - and the commander leading the search also confirmed the source was unknown.

Chris Brown, an explorer and friend of one of the crew, said he believed the reported sounds could be them.

"If you made a continuous noise, that's not going to get picked up, but doing it every 30 minutes, that suggests humans," he told the BBC. "I'm sure they're all conserving oxygen and energy, because it's cold and dark down there."