Explore the remains of the Titanic – but it ain’t cheap!4 min read
Reading Time: 3 minutesOver a 100 years ago, a ship that was believed to be unsinkable, departed from the United Kingdom to New York. Unfortunately, the magnificent vessel called the Titanic, collided with an ice berg in the North Atlantic Ocean and sank, along with several passengers. The sinking of the Titanic is known as one of the most famous tragedies of all time!
Photo: Maritime Insight
Now, one company is offering adventure buffs a chance to tour the sunken remains of the ship in a submarine, in 2021. However, these tours come at a hefty price – $125,000 or Rs 93,15,312!
While this is no cheap feat, the experience being offered has been impossible till now, as only scientists and researchers have gone down there. The rest of us have got glimpses of the ship via documentaries and the blockbuster Oscar-winning 1997 movie Titanic.
The remains of the RMS Titanic, which were discovered only in 1985, lie two miles below the surface. The journey down there is not for the faint-hearted, and the company, OceanGate, will be taking people down in a five-person submarine.
The tour is part of an eight-day expedition which will begin in Newfoundland in Canada. Passengers will then be taken to the ship’s location, which is 370 miles southeast of Newfoundland. The submarine tour is six to eight hours long.
Aside from the price tag, the application process is not easy either, and is definitely harder than booking your annual family holiday! Those interested will have to fill out an application and will also have to make a video interview, followed by a training process.
According to the travel company, 36 people have already booked expeditions, which will take place between May and September next year.
How did the unsinkable, sink?
On April 10, 1912, the Titanic set sail on its maiden voyage. The luxury ship, which was thought to be extremely sturdy, was sailing from the UK to the US, and had some-2,200 passengers on board. Throughout much of the voyage, the wireless radio operators on the Titanic received iceberg warnings.
On the evening of April 14 the Titanic began to approach an area known to have icebergs. At approximately 11:40 pm, about 400 nautical miles (740 km) south of Newfoundland, Canada, an iceberg was sighted. The Titanic began to turn, but it was too close to avoid a collision.
Photo: Getty Images
The ship’s side scraped along the iceberg as it was being turned away, and experts believe that the ship would have survived if it had hit the iceberg head-on. Though attempts were made to contact nearby vessels, all were too far. A total of 1,500-odd people died from the tragic accident, with only 706 passengers surviving.
Titanic’s remains may completely
disappear by 2030!
Let’s learn some fascinating facts about the ship and the tragedy:
- The Titanic was over 882-feet long and weighed 52, 310 tonnes!
- The luxurious interiors of the ship were inspired by The Ritz hotel in London.
- The ship had its own newspaper that was printed onboard each night.
- The youngest survivor on the Titatnic – Millvina Dean – was two months old when the ship sank. She died in 2009 at the age of 97.
- Around 6,000 artifacts have been recovered from the ship. They are on display at museums around the world and some have been sold at auctions.
- There’s a rust-eating bacteria called Halomonas titanicae that is slowly consuming the remains of the ship. It is expected to be completely gone by 2030!
Sources: Britannica, IndiaTimes.com, The Telegraph
