Heavy machinery and submarines that are set to be used in a last-ditch attempt to save the missing Titan tourist submersible have arrived in Canada.

Huge amounts of winches, cables, and unmanned vehicles capable of going 19,000 feet underwater were delivered to St John’s airport in Newfoundland by three US Air Force cargo planes.

It was taken with a police escort to the port where a waiting ship, the Horizon Arctic, was due to set sail at midnight.

But with the 15-hour sea journey to the search area where five people were trapped underwater, it will arrive perilously close to the time when the Titan will run out of air.

For the latest updates on the missing submersible, follow Metro.co.uk’s live blog here

The desperate hunt for the five men trapped on the lost vessel has entered its make-or-break day as more ships set up above the Titanic wreck with time quickly running out to pull off the deepest undersea rescue mission ever.

Earlier today rescuers reported hearing ‘banging sounds’ at some point in the rescue effort.

The Explorers Club, where Harding was a founding Board of Trustees member, reported there were ‘likely signs of life have been detected.’

At 19,000 feet, the submersible is capable of reaching the Titan, which is thought to be as deep as 12,000 feet below the surface.

Three C-17 aircraft from the US Air Force – which are believed to have flown in from North Carolina and New Jersey – landed at a cargo terminal in St. John’s where they were met by six waiting flatbed trucks.

The equipment was taken off the planes by a military loader then put onto the trucks by a forklift truck.

One load contained a giant red roll of thick cable and two large machines with a blue frame and a sign on the side saying ‘high voltage.’  While the exact purpose of the cable was unclear, it appeared to have enough length to go deep into the ocean.

Another load contained two heavy-duty Hyundai winches with ‘6000 kg line pull’ written on the side of each.

The Titan weighs 10,432 kg meaning that both would need to be used to pull it out.

One load contained a shipping crate with the words ‘Pelagic Research Services’ – the Massachusetts based company specializes in deep sea rescue tools.

In a statement on its website the company said it was providing ‘critical support’ to the rescue effort. The company said: ‘Currently, PRS is in the process of mobilization as quickly and as safely as possible to assist in the search and rescue effort.

‘PRS is committed to helping bring the best possible outcome to this situation. Our sincere thoughts and wishes are with all the families, friends, and rescue personnel of those affected by this emergency.’

The company did not specify what it was sending but among its craft are the Odysseus 6K, which is capable of going to a depth of 6,000 meters, or 19,000 feet.

According to the company’s website, the control room is built into a shipping crate, which appears to tally with what was being loaded onto the Horizon Atlantic.

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