Within the search area for the missing Titan submersible, the US Coast Guard claims to have found a debris field.
A remote-controlled underwater search vehicle (ROV) was used to find the debris field close to the Titanic's wreck.
Currently, experts are analyzing the data to determine whether it is connected to the submersible.
On Thursday in the afternoon, a Coast Guard press conference is planned.
With a four-day supply of oxygen for its five crew, the Titan vessel vanished on Sunday in a remote area of the North Atlantic.
Some experts have hypothesized that a hull failure may have caused a catastrophic implosion to occur. OceanGate Expeditions, a private company, owned and operated the minivan-sized submersible, but it has not yet been found.
Whether the fragments are Titan-related is unknown. Experts in deep sea diving have cautioned that the seafloor near the Titanic's wreck is covered in debris.
If it is discovered, it will need to be reached with sophisticated rescue tools, and the operation would probably take hours.
There is a sense of urgency as ships, ROVs, and aircraft from the US, Canada, and France continue the search as authorities and experts have expressed concern that oxygen levels onboard may be almost depleted.
The Coast Guard stated on Wednesday that the search continues to be a rescue effort despite the fact that the condition of the boat and the five people aboard is still unknown.
Captain Jamie Frederick told reporters on Wednesday that "this is absolutely a search-and-rescue mission.".
Canadian search aircraft claimed to have heard underwater noises earlier in the week. Authorities have issued a warning that these noises might not have been connected to the Titan and that their exact nature is still unknown.
The only possible lead that has been found by the ROVs that have been deployed to the area is Thursday's announcement that a debris field had been found.
Thursday morning was the first time one of the ROVs, which had been sent from the Canadian ship Horizon Arctic, had reached the ocean floor. Later in the day, more were predicted to show up.
The US Coast Guard reported that the French research vessel Atalante also arrived in the region on Thursday morning and deployed its own ROV. The Titanic wreck is located approximately 12,500 feet (3,810 meters) below the surface, and that robot is skilled at surveying the Titanic.
About 26,000 square kilometers (10,000 square miles)—more than twice the size of the US state of Connecticut—of the ocean are currently being swept up. Experts say that because of the region's propensity for stormy weather and poor visibility, search operations are more difficult.
British businessman Hamish Harding, British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, former French navy diver Paul-Henry Nargeolet, and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush are all present on the 21-foot vessel.
