Renata Rojas, a passenger who was on the Titan submersible, said seeing the Titanic wreck up close was "the fulfilment of a lifelong dream".
"You always feel overwhelmed not only because you are there but also because you are so close to the wreck. I was very impressed," said Renata Rojas after visiting the Titanic wreck in 2022 by the Titan submersible, the ship that went missing on June 18 while carrying five passengers.
In addition to Rojas, the tour included two other passengers, the captain and an expert. Witnessing the Titanic at the bottom of the ocean was described by the female tourist as "fulfilling a lifelong dream".
OceanGate Expeditions' Titan submersible. This is also the missing ship. Photo: OceanGate
Chef Chelsea Kellogg, another guest on the 2022 tour, also said it was a “dream come true to see the Titanic in this lifetime.” Kellogg cried and was overwhelmed when she first saw the wreck. She described the experience as “once in a lifetime” and “exactly what I expected.”
In a YouTube video posted in October 2022, people who have visited the Titanic wreck praised the experience. "It was a highlight of my life," said one anonymous visitor. "Not many people have done it and that's part of the appeal," said another.
OceanGate Expeditions is believed to be the only company that offers diving tours to the Titanic wreck site at a depth of 4,000m in the North Atlantic Ocean today, according to NBC. The Titanic sank in 1912, killing more than 1,500 people. The wreck was discovered in 1985 and was recognized by UNESCO as a protected underwater world heritage site in April 2012.
British billionaire Hamish Harding signs up to join the Titan expedition. This photo was posted on his personal page by Harding's wife's stepson. Photo: Facebook/Brian Szasz
Titanic Historical Society historian Don Lynch said there was a surge in tourism to the wreck site in the 1990s. Several Los Angeles artists went to the bottom of the sea in 2000 and created watercolors from the experience. Visits then dwindled as the Russian-made submersibles were retired.
Stockton Rush, founder of OceanGate Expeditions, once said that joining this tour is not as easy as "picking up chocolates from a pillow". Each passenger is responsible for supporting the group during the trip. According to Rush, most of the guests participating are "Titanic enthusiasts". The rest are wealthy guests, attracted by the unique and expensive travel experiences. Rush's initial price for this tour was $125,000 per person, half the current price.
Aaron Newman, who was a passenger on the Titan, told NBC 's Today show on June 21 that the trip was dark and cold. "If the ship is several hundred meters deep and there is no electricity, it is completely dark and cold." The temperature gets colder as the ship gets closer to the Titanic's wreckage. Passengers have to wear layers of clothing, wool hats and do everything they can to stay warm while on the ship.
John "Danny" Olivas, a retired astronaut who trained in underwater exploration for NASA, said the Titanic dive tour was "a very stressful situation". "There was no air circulation in the cabin. That created a lot of potential hazards just breathing air". Oxygen is important, and having five people in a small, cramped ship creating CO2 would be "very dangerous", creating a toxic environment.
Mike Reiss, who went to the bottom of the ocean to visit the Titanic on an OceanGate tour, said it took the crew three hours to find the wreck, even though the Titan submersible was only 500 meters from the UNESCO heritage site. He had to sign a liability waiver before going. The first page of the waiver "mentions death three times." The tourist said his biggest fear was that the submersible would not be able to resurface after sinking to the bottom.
The Titan weighs about 10,000 kg, is nearly 7 m long, nearly 3 m wide and 2.5 m high. It can carry a payload of 685 kg and has a single window so that visitors can see the Titanic wreckage. It travels at 3 knots (5.5 km/h), can operate in many different seas, has no seats inside and has a small toilet at the end, covered by a curtain.
Titanic wreck on tour provided by OceanGate. Video: OceanGate
In 2021, Titan had its first successful trip to bring passengers close to the Titanic wreck. To date, the Titan submersible has only made three trips. The third time the ship encountered an accident and disappeared at the bottom of the ocean. The Coast Guard of Boston, Massachusetts, USA, is leading the search and rescue mission.
"You're always thinking about danger. Any small problem can turn into a big disaster," Reiss.
Anh Minh (According to Independent, NBC news )
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