The exact moment the doomed Oceangate submarine-like vessel began its perilous descent to the wreck of the Titanic has been captured in a chilling video.
The missing submersible, named Titan, was supposed to reach the bottom of the sea to view the Titanic shipwreck on Sunday, but it lost contact around one hour and 45 minutes after being submerged.
A major search and rescue operation is ongoing in the Atlantic Ocean to find the five people on board, but teams are facing a race against time as oxygen supply is expected to run out at 12.08pm today, according to a US Coast Guard spokesperson.
The vessel lost communication with tour operators OceanGate Expeditions on Sunday around 700 kilometers south of St John's, Newfoundland, during a voyage to the Titanic shipwreck off the coast of Canada.
READ MORE: 5 Titanic submarine warning signs missed before it got lost in ocean with crew on board
In the newly emerged clip, it can be seen going beneath the waves in the background as a TikTok user smiles at the camera in a 'selfie' - completely unaware of the mystery that would follow.
The video has been published on our sister site Mirror UK.
Videographer Abbi Jackson, 22, says she is a photographer/videographer for the company that runs the expeditions.
She filmed the footage while on board the Polar Prince ship, which was used to launch the Titan.
A caption reads: "Watching a submarine go down to the Titanic"
Despite claims since its disappearance that the design of the Titan endangered those on board, a spokesman for OceanGate has defended the company's record, stating that it runs an “extremely safe operation”.
Questions were raised about the integrity of the vessel during a press conference in Canada on Wednesday afternoon.
Sean Leet, co-founder and chairman of Horizon Maritime Services, which owns the Polar Prince mothership from which Titan was launched, said: “OceanGate runs an extremely safe operation. Our full focus right now is getting that submersible located and getting those people brought back safely.”
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