Titanic sub: Passengers aboard missing submersible have just hours of oxygen left - latest update

The 21-foot vessel, which takes tourists underwater to visit the wreck of the Titanic, went missing in the Atlantic Ocean on June 18. It is now estimated the five passengers onboard have just hours of oxygen left - enough to last until about 12pm on Thursday (June 22).

Yesterday, a Canadian aircraft searching for the sub in the Atlantic Ocean detected intermittent “banging” noises from the vicinity of its last known location, the US Coast Guard said. Crews searching for the missing sub heard banging sounds every 30 minutes, however, the US Coast Guard clarified that they “don’t know the source of the noise.”

Aboard the vessel, named Titan, is CEO and founder of OceanGate Expeditions Stockton Rush, British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding, renowned French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood along with his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood.

The watercraft submerged on Sunday morning from its support vessel to travel to the Titanic wreckage which sits at a depth of 12,500ft. About an hour and 45 minutes later, the Titan lost contact with its surface ship, the Polar Prince.

Experts say the air supply depends on a range of factors, including whether the submersible still has power and how calm the people aboard have remained.