The missing Titanic tourist submarine that went missing on Sunday is now at the "bottom of the ocean filled with water", a Russian naval expert has claimed.
The OceanGate Explorations submarine went missing near the wreckage of the famous cruise-liner at around 4am on Sunday morning.
Four days later the five-person crew has yet to be found despite a huge search-and-rescue operation being launched. And now time is running out with the oxygen expected to run out by 12.08pm on Thursday.
While the search and rescue crews have refused to give up, a Russian naval expert believes the missing submersible is at the bottom of the seabed, the Daily Star reports.
READ MORE: Exact time oxygen will run out for crew on Titanic sub as families cling to last hope robot
Russian naval expert, Igor Kurdin, the chairman of the St. Petersburg club of submariners and veterans of the Navy and captain 1st rank believes that the sub most probably lies at the bottom of the ocean.
He told the Moskovskij Komsomolets: "If it has not now surfaced using emergency ballast release, then, unfortunately, it should be assumed that it lies at the bottom.
"Yes, it has a solid body, it is not crushed. It is quite possible that there was a depressurisation of the case at the time of immersion, and the apparatus was filled with water.”
Titan was headed for depths of 12,500ft, while it is not yet known whether the stricken sub resurfaced or is stranded on the seabed.
The current record for an underwater rescue was in 1973 at a depth of 1,575ft.
Meanwhile, a former submarine commander says the passengers on board the vessel have probably already died.
Ex-commanding officer Andy Coles said the passengers may well have died from hypothermia or carbon dioxide poisoning already.
He told the Daily Mirror: "I don't think the submarine has any means of cleaning out the CO2 and re-circulating the air.
"So they will probably go to sleep way before they don't fully suffocate. The other thing to also consider is 3,800 metres down, it's incredibly cold.
"They've probably not got any power and light. Because if they had power, they would have tried to drive to the surface."
Coles added that even if the submersible could reach the surface, they would not be able to open the hatch — as it is bolted shut from the outside.
He added: "I would say you've got less than 50% chance of bringing them up alive, even if you found them.
"You might be able to get them up in the future. You know, in two months time, you might get the lifting kit there, everything you need in place."
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