The submersible went beneath the surface at 8am on Sunday morning and lost contact with the mothership, the Polar Prince, at around 9.45 am.
Despite the nature of the situation, OceanGate didn’t report that the sub had gone missing to the US Coast Guard until 5.40pm.
Furthermore, Canada’s Coast Guard wasn’t told about the incident until nearly 12 hours later, at 9.13pm on Sunday night.
Experts say the crew, which reportedly has less than 40 hours of oxygen remaining, has just a “one percent chance of survival”.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Lieutenant David Marquet said: “If I was advising the Prime Minister, I’d say their chances are one percent.”
Mr Marquet’s comments come as the coastguards leading the search admit they may not be able to rescue the crew.
During their latest update, Captain Jamie Frederick confirmed that based on an estimated 96-hour supply of oxygen, the crew had less than 41 hours left.
This amount is not fixed, experts suggest how the crew behave could affect how much time they have left if they are still alive.
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Former submarine officer Frank Owen has warned that the crew’s oxygen supplies could run out faster if they move too much or panic.
He told the BBC that if the crew “start panicking or moving around too much they could exceed those rates”.
Furthermore, as some experts focus on how the crew could survive or extend their oxygen, others have spoken about the difficulties in trying to find the submersible and what could have caused it to lose contact.
Former Rear Admiral Chris Parry has said there are several reasons, but optimistic and pessimistic, for the sub’s disappearance.
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Speaking to Sky News he said: “I mean there’s an optimistic option that is either they lost an umbilical connection with the surface or indeed there’s been a malfunction and the submersible is continuing to operate but obviously out of contact with its mother ship.
“Obviously at the other end of the scale, there could have been an accident. It could have become entangled in the wreckage of the Titanic. It could indeed have had a catastrophic failure.
“What we do know of course is the wreck site is off the Grand Banks and a long way from anywhere.
“The nearest rescue facilities will be on the east coast of the US. It’s a very difficult operation. The actual nature of the sea bed is very undulating. The Titanic herself lies in a trench.”
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