What happened to the missing Titan sub? These are the most likely scenarios

Experts have shared some of the most likely scenarios of what happened to the missing sub and they range from hopeful to grim.

An extensive search-and-rescue has entered its third day trying to locate a submersible that went missing during a dive to the Titanic shipwreck, and time is running out.

Rescuers have been racing against the clock because even under the best of circumstances, the vessel, OceanGate Expedition’s Titan, could run out of oxygen as soon as Thursday morning.

A glimmer of hope came Wednesday morning, when the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) said in a statement that a Canadian aircraft had detected noises underwater.

The statement did not elaborate on what rescuers believe the noises could be. In underwater disasters, a crew unable to communicate with the surface relies on banging on their submersible’s hull to be detected by sonar. However, no official has publicly suggested that’s the case and noises underwater can come from a variety of sources.

While it’s too early to say what has happened to the Titan, experts have offered insight into some of the most likely scenarios.

According to OceanGate’s website, the Titan has an acoustic link with its surface vessel, the Canadian icebreaker Polar Prince, which communicates using a transponder on its end and a transceiver on the receiving end. This link allows for underwater acoustic positioning, and for short text messages to be sent between the two vessels — usually basic status information.

Given that the Titan is a battery-operated submersible and has lost all contact with its surface vessel, it may have lost power. While these types of vessels typically have an emergency backup power source, it’s unclear if the Titan had an independent battery.