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POLITIKOFF

A staggering amount to visit the wreck of the Titanic

Politiko 2023-06-26 11:15:23

A staggering amount to visit the wreck of the Titanic

For a long time, adventurers have paid staggering sums to visit the wreck of the Titanic, taking into account the fact that this expedition could turn into a tragedy

It takes 8 hours and $250,000 to reach what is left of the famous Titanic, about 611.55 km off the coast of St.John's, Newfoundland. More than a century after the ship sank, interest in the Titanic remains immense.

Although most quench their curiosity by visiting the many museums, exhibitions and collections dedicated to this event, others are willing to pay for a ticket and see it up close. For more than 20 years, many adventurers and explorers have gone to that destination. In 1985, an expedition led by National Geographic Explorer-at-Large Robert Ballard and French oceanographer Jean-Louis Michel discovered the final resting place of the Titanic.

In July 1986, Ballard placed a plaque on the ship, asking that the site be left undisturbed in memory of the more than 1,500 people who died there. But that didn't happen. Instead, competition over who would be allowed to retrieve objects from the ship flared up. The first official salvage attempt was undertaken by Titanic Ventures Limited Partnership in 1987, when approximately 1,800 items were collected and preserved. The company has conducted 8 expeditions aboard the Titanic and has auctioned off more than 5,000 artifacts recovered from the site, including jewelry and part of the ship's grand staircase.

Companies also started promoting expensive tourist trips to see the wreck of the Titanic up close. Researchers, explorers and even filmmakers such as James Cameron, who directed the 1997 film Titanic, have made countless trips to the wreck. In 1998, the British company, Deep Ocean Expeditions, was among the first to sell tickets to the public for $32,500 to see the remains of the Titanic. In 2012, expedition leader Rob McCallum said the company was organizing a final round of the tour, having descended the ruins 197 times. In addition, companies such as Bluefish, Blue Marble, etc., have performed dozens of dives.

While OceanGate, of which the lost submarine is a part, carried out successful expeditions in 2021 and 2022, and has 18 dives planned until the end of 2023. In 2001, a couple even got married, leaning on the famous arch of the Titanic. Efforts to protect the ruins are ongoing. Because it is located in international waters, it must be protected under the UNESCO Convention for the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage.

In 2020, the United Kingdom and the United States agreed to work together to grant or deny licenses to people entering and taking objects from the site of the tragedy. We recall that the company that owned the lost submarine declared the five crew members of the "Titan" dead. In a statement to the media, OceanGate expressed its condolences for the lives lost in this tragedy./TAR

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