OceanGate Expeditions, a research and tourism company, offers an eight-day tour that takes guests to explore the Titanic more than 13,000 feet below the ocean's surface in a five-seat carbon fiber and titanium submarine. According to the company's website, the "once-in-a-lifetime" experience costs $250,000 per person.
The Titan submersible is missing while taking tourists to see the Titanic wreck
Adventure travel has become a growing trend as more thrill-seekers push the boundaries of conventional travel. For example, OceanGate Expeditions is one of several companies catering to the needs of individuals who want to explore seemingly inaccessible depths in the world’s oceans.
OceanGate has conducted successful expeditions to the Titanic wreck in 2021 and 2022. On Monday, the US Coast Guard launched a search and rescue operation for an OceanGate ship that lost contact during a tour of the Titanic wreck. The company said it was “mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely.”
OceanGate Expeditions, based in Everett, Washington, was founded in 2009 by aerospace engineer Stockton Rush, who was also on the submersible.
According to the company's website, OceanGate has developed manned submersibles for depths of 4,000m (13,123 feet) and 6,000m (19,685 feet), to serve scientific research…
Rush is also a board member of the OceanGate Foundation, a nonprofit focused on developing marine technology to advance marine science, history, and archaeology. Among the expeditions OceanGate offers are shipwrecks, hydrothermal vents, and deep-sea canyons.
Unique tours always come with risks
The trip is part of a growing trend of adventure travel reserved for the ultra-wealthy – a group that is expected to grow in size in the coming years. The number of people worldwide who qualify as ultra-high net worth individuals, or those with net assets exceeding $30 million, has increased by 44% since 2017, according to global real estate management firm Knight Frank’s annual wealth report.
Those willing to spend a fortune can take private jet trips around the world in 24 days, helicopter rides to Mount Everest base camp, and even space trips. Last week, Virgin Galactic announced that its commercial spaceflight service will officially begin later this month, with a second trip scheduled for August. The company told CNN that a ticket costs $450,000 for “private astronauts,” and that it has sold about 800 tickets.
While space tourism remains largely out of reach for most people, it is a growing tourism sector. Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX have also launched paying customers into space in the past two years, and US-based space tech startup Orion Span plans to open the world’s first luxury space hotel, which will cost around $10 million per person for a two-week stay.
Titanic wreck seen from the Titan submersible
Some of these trips are extremely luxurious and expensive because they are high-risk, meaning they require extensive preparation and expense. Rush said exploring the world comes with risks in a November 2022 podcast hosted by CBS reporter David Pogue.
"At some point, safety is just pure waste. I mean, if you just want to be safe, don't get out of bed. Don't get in your car. Don't do anything. At some point, you're going to take some risks," he stressed.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the US Congress has a ban on commercial human spaceflight, meaning government safety regulations do not apply to spacecraft designed by Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin, or SpaceX. Currently, paying customers who travel to space must sign “informed consent” forms to acknowledge any potential dangers.
CNN requested to see these forms from Blue Origin, SpaceX and Virgin Galactic but did not immediately receive a response.
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