Missing Titanic sub: What time is US Coast Guard press conference?

The US Coast Guard continues to lead the search for a submersible that vanished during a voyage to the Titanic's wreckage, with time to save those on board quickly running out.

Rescuers previously said the five people on board had until exactly 12.08pm UK time before the five people inside the Titan sub run out of oxygen.

Even after this deadline had passed, the chief coordinator of a multinational mission to find the sub insisted that rescuers were still focussed on rescuing the five-member crew alive.

Follow live updates on search for missing Titanic sub here

It is thought the OceanGate Expeditions vessel is around 900 miles east and 400 miles south of Newfoundland. The scale of the rescue operation is huge, with the search area compared to the size of Wales.

With just hours to spare, the US Coast Guard, helped by pilots from the US and Canadian military, Canadian research vessel Polar Prince, and a handful of other ships including the Atalante, from France, are stepping up their efforts.

When is the next press conference?

As Thursday was marked as the final day before the Titan's emergency oxygen supply ran out, the US Coast Guard said it would host a press conference at 3pm local time, 8pm UK time.

Just before the press conference the US Coast Guard said it had discovered a "debris field" within the search area.

A remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) made the discovery near the wreckage of the Titanic.

Read more: Titanic sub missing - LIVE: Latest updates as expert says 'catastrophic implosion unlikely'

What was said in the Wednesday press conference?

Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Captain Jamie Frederick said the US Coast Guard had five surface vessels searching for Titan on Wednesday and that he expected there to be 10 by Thursday.

He said rescuers were searching in an area where noises from underwater were detected by a Canadian P-3 aircraft, with ROV (remote operating vehicles) relocated in an attempt to explore where they came from.

Data was shared with US Navy experts for analysis, with rescuers remaining "optimistic and hopeful" that they could find the sub, whose passengers include British billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding.

Read more: Tourists who board missing Titanic submersible are made to sign 'death waiver'

Asked whether the mission was changing to become a recovery search, Captain Frederick said: “This is a search-and-rescue mission 100%.

"We are smack dab in the middle of search and rescue and will continue to put every available asset that we have in an effort to find the Titan and the crew members.”

What are search and rescue teams doing?

Rescuers have been scrambling after the mysterious "banging" sounds were picked up, with French research vessel The Atalante among those deploying deep-sea diving robots to find the sub.

Marine Traffic data showed the Atalante had slowed to a speed of 6 nautical knots and was located about 20 km to 30 km from the Polar Prince, which had carried the Titan to waters above the wreck of the Titanic, which sunk on its maiden voyage in 1912.

The Canadian Coast Guard boat John Cabot, a vessel with sonar capabilities, arrived on-scene Wednesday morning along with commercial vessels Skandi Vinland and the Atlantic Merlin, and the Coast Guard's C-130 crew.

Read more: Inside the Titanic sub: Video shows conditions explorers are facing as search continues

Also en route to the scene as of Wednesday were the Canadian CGS Ann Harvey, Canadian CGS Terry Fox, Motor Vessel Horizon Arctic (ROV), His Majesty's Canadian Ship Glace Bay (mobile decompression chamber and medical personnel), Air National Guard C-130.

Along with vessels already on scene, Magellan was expected to provide one of its ROVs soon, the US Coast Guard said.

Read more: Titanic submersible: Who is on board the missing vessel?

Meanwhile the US Navy was due to send subject matter experts and a Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System (FADOSS).

This motion-compensated lift system is designed for deep ocean lifting for the recovery of large, bulky, and heavy undersea objects such as aircraft or small vessels.

Watch: Here's what we know about the Titan search operation so far