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The inside of the OceanGate Explorations submarine that vanished while exploring the wreckage of the Titanic has been described as being as big as a mini-van – making it unimaginably claustrophobic for the five-person crew.
A search-and-rescue operation was launched after the vessel went missing on Sunday, but the five-person crew – which includes one British national and two British residents – has yet to be found.
And now, more than 48 hours after they went missing, and with a confirmed less than 40-hours worth of oxygen left, the crew will be in a horrific situation.
READ MORE: Chilling last text sent by British billionaire stuck inside Titanic submarine
Called Titan, the vessel is just 22 feet long – a very claustrophobic squeeze for five people – weighs 23,000lb and you can only enter it when barefoot.
Passengers are bolted inside the tiny submarine from the outside – there is no door to get in or out.
It also has no seats, one toilet which is actually just a black box with a curtain around it for privacy.
Before going on the trip, crew members are advised to “restrict your diet before and during the dive to reduce the likelihood that you will need to use the facilities”.
Other passengers must "turn the music up loud" while it is in use.
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Missing Titanic sub tourists will likely be ‘very uncomfortable' in 'dark experience’
Everyone on-board must sit on the floor, cross legged – and the rest of the vessel is just a control panel and driving gear.
Those trapped on board the remote-controlled vessel, which costs £195,000 per head, are not only contending with the claustrophobic conditions, they also face hypothermia.
Temperatures at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, if the vessel is still located there, are just above freezing.
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Having been on the vessel himself, CBS journalist David Pogue described it as having “about as much room as a minivan”.
He said: “Some of the ballast is abandoned construction pipes that are sitting on shelves on the side of the thing, and the way you detach the ballast is you get everybody on board to lean into one side of the sub and they roll off .”
The crew lost contact with the surface after 45 minutes, which the company says is not even half way into the “two hour” journey.
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They add: Once the submersible is launched you will begin to see alien-like lifeforms whizz by the viewport as you sink deeper and deeper into the ocean.
“The descent takes approximately two hours but it feels like the blink of an eye.”
Martin Phillips went on a similar trip to the Titanic wreckage in 2001 and has recalled how scary the descent down was.
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Chilling last text sent by British billionaire stuck inside Titanic submarine
He said: "The pilot switched on headlights for us to see the sea life through our seven inch-thick plexiglass portholes – after a short while they were turned them off to conserve precious battery power.
"For the next two hours we sat in darkness as we descended, talking to the pilot and listening to the regular ping of the sonar.
"Once on the sea bed our pilot put the lights on to illuminate a colourless lunar-like sandscape, but within minutes we were confronted by a wall of black."
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The missing vessel is believed to have departed St Johns, Newfoundland on Saturday (June 17), with the sub launching at around 4am on Sunday.
This morning a father and son were confirmed on-board the tourist submarine.
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Titan sub could have 'reawoken Titanic curse' by searching for doomed ship, expert says
British residents Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, were on the OceanGate Explorations vessel called Titan, according to a statement by their family.
A UK Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: "As the host nation for NATO’s multinational submarine rescue capability, we continue to monitor the incident in the North Atlantic and will guide and assist in any response activity as appropriate."
The search-and-rescue operation continues.
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