As a major rescue operation unfolds to find the missing Titan submersible and its five passengers, it remains unknown how the vessel lost contact on its way to the Titanic shipwreck.
Tim Maltin, one of the world's leading Titanic experts, joined Breakfast from the UK this morning and proposed the submersible could have been snagged in debris from the historic shipwreck.
Ten vessels have been involved in the massive search. (Source: 1News)
Though the bow is in "quite good condition, sitting proudly on the seabed", Maltin said the ship's stern is "like a bomb's gone off".
"The stern is like a junkyard almost, where you've got cables, bits of cranes, bits of torn metal, lots of things you could snag a submersible on, but more importantly you get these drag nets that actually break off of fishing vessels," he said.
"They end up snagged on the wreck, and they're called ghost nets, and it is possible that the submarine could have been caught in one of these ghost nets."
Tim Maltin said sunken drag nets could be linked to the missing Titan submersible. (Source: Breakfast)
In terms of the reported banging noises being picked up by rescuers, Maltin is apprehensive to say they are coming from Titan and that he thinks they would be "more definite" and "regular" if created by humans.
"There's a lot of material around the search and rescue at the moment, there's a lot of commercial shipping in that area as well, so I don't hold out a lot of store for the banging noises themselves," he said.
As roughly 20 hours of oxygen remain in the vessel and more ships arrive in the North Atlantic to assist in the search, Maltin is concerned if rescuers will be able to reach the submersible if found on the sea floor, nearly 4000m below.
"I'm not sure there is any sub capable of recovering that sub. However, they may be able to attach a tether and then crane it up to the surface," he said.
"As far as I can see that's the only possible hope, and of course time is running out."
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