Titanic’s allure refuses to die out, even 111 years after it sank and took 15,000 people with it. Recently, a submersible pod operated by OceanGate disappeared while on an expedition to explore the remains of the Titanic at a depth of 3.8 km. However, this hasn’t stopped wealthy and adventurous people from being drawn to what is now known as Titanic Tourism.
The Titanic is mesmerizing, even as a wreck, and its magnetic pull towards it is undeniable. Those who answer its call need to have money and an appetite for adventure bordering on the dangerous. A trip to see the remains of the Titanic has an exclusive sense to it. Only a select few have come close to the behemoth, the largest ship built at the time it was constructed.
Those who undertake the costly and dangerous undersea journey get to see debris, some plates, and even a chandelier sitting at the bottom. But what amazes them the most is the gigantic bow of the Titanic.
The Titanic wreck site is now littered with trash, including memorials and plaques, along with cargo nets and beer and soda bottles that remain from salvage efforts. Salvagers and researchers have dived about 12,500 feet to where the remains of the Titanic are resting.
The first official salvage effort was undertaken by the Titanic Ventures Limited Partnership and L’Institut Français de Recherche pour l’Exploitation de la Mer, where around 1,800 items were collected and conserved. The company, renamed RMS Titanic Inc, has conducted eight expeditions to the wreck of the ill-fated ship and auctioned off more than 5,000 objects taken from the ship, including jewellery and a piece of the Titanic’s grand staircase.
Recently, people were drawn to the magnetic pull of the Titanic and embarked on a journey of a lifetime in the form of submersibles. The Titan submersible, operated by OceanGate, made the treacherous journey to the final resting place of the Titanic. However, unlike submarines that navigate independently to and from ports, submersibles require a ship to launch and recover them.
The Titan was submerged from its support vessel on Sunday morning and was expected to take eight hours to reach the Titanic. However, about an hour and 45 minutes later, the Titan lost contact with its surface ship, the Canadian research icebreaker Polar Prince. The 22-foot-long submersible hasn’t no marine regulatory authority’s approval, and it has no escape pod, and the hatch can’t be opened from inside. The passengers signed a waiver before embarking on the perilous journey and paid $250,000 to be onboard.
The fatal attraction of the Titanic is undeniably strong and beautiful, even as a wreck resting at the bottom of the sea, with iron-eating bacteria slowly eating away its remains.
