Terrifying footage shows just how small the submarine is that went missing during Titanic tour

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By Phoebe Egoroff

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Terrifying footage has shown just how small the submarine was that went missing during a tour of the sunken Titanic ship.

As previously reported, a vessel operated by OceanGate Expeditions went missing on Sunday (June 18) in the Atlantic Ocean while exploring the wreckage of the Titanic, which sunk in April 1912.

The submersible had been exploring the depths of the wreckage, and rescuers are now facing an additional challenge as the crew and tourists will apparently run out of oxygen within 48 hours.

In just under two hours underwater, the submarine lost contact with the research vessel Polar Prince and no communication has happened since.

US and Canadian search teams are currently locked in a race against time to find the tiny submersible craft, which has dimensions of 263 inches x 110 inches x 98 inches.

Viewers across the globe have seen footage and images of the small vessel with CBS journalist David Pogue, who traveled aboard the tiny submersible to view the Titanic last year, revealing that he had genuine concerns that the small vessel doesn't leave room for error if things go wrong.

Before boarding Pogue toured the submarine, where he was recorded making comments on what he called "improvised design." This included lighting from Camping World, and even more worrying, an unofficial Playstation controller that was to drive the submarine.

"It seems like this submersible has some elements of MacGyvery jerry-rigged-ness. You are putting construction pipes as ballast," Pogue said to OceanGate's CEO Stockton Rush, via Deadline, who replied: "I don't know if I would use that description."

Rush then added that OceanGate had collaborated with Boeing and Nasa on the pressure vessel, saying: "Everything else can fail. Your thrusters can go, your lights can go, you're still going to be safe."

Pogue did reveal that he had been nervous ahead of boarding the vessel, and even revealed some of the contents of the waiver he was required to sign before hopping on. The waiver described the vessel as an "experimental submersible vessel that has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body and could result in physical injury, disability, emotional trauma or death."

A video of Pogue reading the waiver out loud subsequently went viral on Twitter, where it has just under 10 million views.

At the time of writing, US authorities are working around the clock to locate the vessel, which reportedly has five people on board.

Featured image credit: OceanGate/Instagram