Hope of finding the Titan five – the crew on board a missing sub on an expedition to the Titanic shipwreck – have grown after rescue groups reported ‘signs of life’ and ‘banging sounds.’

A Canadian aircraft participating in the extensive search effort to find the missing Titanic tourists reported “banging” in the region where the submarine vanished at intervals of 30 minutes.

Emails written to the US Department of Homeland Security and obtained by Rolling Stone mention the banging.

There is reason for hope, The Explorers Club President Richard Garriot de Cayeux stated in a social media message on Tuesday night.

In a statement he said: ‘We have much greater confidence that 1) There is cause for hope, based on data from the field – we understand that likely signs of life have been detected at the site.’

Officials haven’t validated the reports or claimed to have located the crew who have been trapped in the deep Atlantic Ocean since the submersible started on Sunday and abruptly lost touch with others, so it’s unknown when the banging sounds occurred.

The DHS memo on the banging sound read: ‘RCC Halifax launched a P8, Poseidon, which has underwater detection capabilities from the air,’ the DHS memo read, ‘reported a contact in a position close to the distress position. 

‘The P8 heard banging sounds in the area every 30 minutes. Four hours later additional sonar was deployed and banging was still heard.’

Garriot de Cayeux added The Explorers Club are confident the U.S. Coast Guard ‘precisely understand the experienced personnel and tech we can deeply’ and ‘believe they are doing everything possible with all resources they have’.

According to reports, those trapped in the submarine include billionaire Hamish Harding, French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood, 48, a UK-based member of the Prince’s Trust charity board, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19.