So What Were Those Banging Sounds? Unexplained Questions From The OceanGate Disaster Persist

What were the banging noises? Stefan Williams, a professor of marine robotics at the University of Sydney, told Insider it is possible the noises were created by marine wildlife, “like whales.” The sounds could have been coming from the wreck of the Titanic, according to Chris Parry, a former admiral in the British Royal Navy, who also suggested the sounds—recorded at 30-minute intervals—could be caused by other things under the sea: “You get a lot of mechanical noise in the ocean.”

Why did it take so long to use remote-operated vehicles in the search? Only two ships were involved in the search before Wednesday, though neither were equipped with remote-operated vehicles (ROV) that could reach the depths of the Titanic wreck at 3,800 meters. France dispatched the research ship Atalante to search for the submersible, which came equipped with an ROV that could reach as deep as 4,000 meters, according to CNN, but it did not arrive until late Wednesday. The U.S. Navy—which dispatched a salvage ship instead, according to CBC—operates an ROV that can operate at depths as low as 6,000 meters, though it was not used for search efforts. (The ROV that identified the debris of Titan was from a private Massachusetts company deployed in the search efforts.)

What caused the implosion? Williams speculated the submersible would implode—a “catastrophic failure”—if the Titan had “any defect” in its hull, which would give way to “intense deep-sea” atmospheric pressure.

Why did it take so long to hear about the Navy detecting an implosion? The U.S. Navy detected “an anomaly consistent with an implosion or explosion” on Sunday in the area communications with the Titan were lost, officials told the Wall Street Journal, though they could not “definitively” say the sound came from the Titan.

Will their bodies be recovered? Coast Guard Rear Adm. John Mauger said during a press conference Thursday he does not “have an answer for prospects” of recovering the bodies of those aboard the Titan, adding there is an “incredibly unforgiving environment down there on the sea floor” that is “incredibly complex” to operate vessels in.

Why did it take OceanGate nearly eight hours to sound the alarm? OceanGate Expeditions—which lost communication with the Titan after an hour and a half—has not explained why it took so long to notify Coast Guard officials, though Sean Leet, who co-owns the submersible’s support ship, said “all protocols were followed for the mission.”