Renata Rojas, a passenger who once rode the Titan submersible, said that seeing the Titanic wreck up close was "fulfilling a lifelong dream."
"You always feel overwhelmed, not only by the fact that you're there, but also by being so close to the shipwreck. I was very impressed," said Renata Rojas after visiting the Titanic wreck in 2022 aboard the Titan submersible, the ship that disappeared on June 18 while carrying five passengers.
Besides Rojas, the tour included two other passengers: the captain and an expert. The female tourist described seeing the Titanic at the bottom of the ocean as "fulfilling a lifelong dream."
The Titan submersible of OceanGate Expeditions. This is also the vessel that is currently missing. Photo: OceanGate
Chef Chelsea Kellogg, another guest on the 2022 tour, also said that "a dream of seeing the Titanic in this lifetime has come true." Kellogg cried and was overwhelmed when she first saw the wreck. She said the experience was "a once-in-a-lifetime" and "exactly what I expected."
In a video posted on YouTube in October 2022, those who had visited the Titanic wreck praised the experience. "It was a remarkable event in my life," said one anonymous visitor. "Not many people have done this, and that's part of the appeal," another said.
OceanGate Expeditions is reportedly the only company currently offering diving tours to the Titanic wreck at a depth of 4,000 meters in the North Atlantic, 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 World Heritage Site in need of protection in April 2012.
British billionaire Hamish Harding is signing up to participate in an expedition tour with the Titan spacecraft. This photo was posted on Facebook by Harding's wife's son. Photo: Facebook/Brian Szasz
Titanic Historical Society historian Don Lynch said there was a lot of tourism to the shipwreck site from the 1990s. Some Los Angeles artists went to the seabed in 2000 and created watercolors from the experience. After that, visits gradually decreased when the Russian-made submersibles ceased operation.
Stockton Rush, the founder of OceanGate Expeditions, once remarked that joining this tour is no easy task, like "picking up chocolates from a pillow." Each passenger is responsible for assisting the group throughout the trip. According to Rush, the majority of participants are "Titanic enthusiasts." The rest are wealthy individuals attracted by unique and expensive travel experiences. Rush initially quoted a price of $125,000 per person for this tour, half the current price.
Aaron Newman, a former passenger on the Titan, told NBC 's Today show on June 21st that the journey was dark and cold. "If the ship is submerged to a depth of several hundred meters and there's no electricity, passengers are completely immersed in darkness and cold." The temperature dropped even further as the ship approached the Titanic wreck. Passengers had to wear multiple layers of clothing, wool hats, and do everything they could to stay warm while inside the ship.
John "Danny" Olivas, a retired astronaut and NASA underwater explorer, said the Titanic wreck dive tour was "a very stressful situation." "There's no air circulation in the cabin. This creates many potential dangers from just breathing air." The CO2 produced by five people in a small, cramped vessel would be "very dangerous," creating a toxic environment.
Mike Reiss, who once experienced a tour of the Titanic's wreck on the ocean floor, said that it took the crew three hours to find the wreck, even though the Titan submersible was only 500 meters from the UNESCO World Heritage site. He had to sign a liability waiver before going. The very first page of the waiver mentioned "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 submersible weighs approximately 10,000 kg, is nearly 7 m long, almost 3 m wide, and 2.5 m high. It can carry a payload of 685 kg and has a single window from which visitors can view the Titanic wreck. The submersible travels at 3 knots per hour (5.5 km/h), can operate in various sea conditions, has no seats inside, and features a small toilet at the rear, concealed by a pull-down curtain.
Titanic wreck shown on a tour provided by OceanGate. Video: OceanGate
In 2021, Titan made its first successful trip, bringing passengers close to the wreck of the Titanic. To date, the Titan submersible has only completed three such trips. On the third occasion, the vessel encountered a problem and disappeared at the bottom of the ocean. The Boston Coast Guard in Massachusetts is leading the search and rescue operation.
"You're always thinking about danger. Any small problem can turn into a major disaster," Reiss said.
(By Anh Minh , based on Independent and NBC News )
Source link
Comment (0)