The infamous RMS Titanic can now be visited by civilians on OceanGate Expedition‘s Titan submarine, as the ship faces rapid disintegration.
The RMS Titanic is experiencing rapid decay and disintegration, which means the vessel could be unrecognisable fairly soon.
That’s why OceanGate Expedition is opening up their Titan submarine this week to take annual trips to the wreckage site.
This will mark the first-ever commercial expedition to the Titanic, where tourists will be able to see the Titanic up close.
The ship is situated 3.8 kilometres below surface level and 740 kilometres off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
But the term ‘civilian’ may be used too liberally. The expedition comes at the hefty price of $100,000 to $150,000 per person – and the rich are far from civil.
The first expedition kicked off this week as OceanGate filled nine “Mission Specialist” positions consisting of people from the public.
The company trained the participants prior to their 40-hour maritime journey from St. John’s, Newfoundland, to the site of the wreck.
They brought with them OceanGate’s Titan, a five-person submarine that will aid in the expedition.
New Expedition Will Inspect Deteriorating Wreck of the Titanic pic.twitter.com/oVtKRyII29
— Lisa Stoddart (@LisseeJ) July 2, 2021
The shipwreck is experiencing rapid decay due to the metal-eating bacteria that has festered on the ship.
A one-off 2019 expedition discovered that the captain’s bathtub, which became visible after the outer wall of the captain’s cabin fell away, is now gone.
The annual expeditions by OceanGate are being undertaken to monitor the ship’s deterioration.
The company said: “This longitudinal survey to collect images, videos, laser, and sonar data will allow objective assessment of the rate of decay and documentation of the process.”
The first MIR dives to Titanic were on the 30th of June 1991. When the OceanGate crew returns to the famous wreck site for the 2021 Titanic Survey Expedition it will be 30 years since those dives. OceanGate looks forward to adding a page to this history. pic.twitter.com/hboLxBDo1z
— OceanGate Expeditions (@OceanGateExped) July 1, 2021
