New Titanic expedition announced to take Citizen explorers 4,000 meters down to witness the doomed ships deterioration ..
The Titanic has been resting at the bottom of the North Atlantic since the unsinkable vessel sank in 1912 after hitting a iceberg killing 1,517 of the 2,224 passengers and crew on board died. Since then no fewer than 250 people have feasted their eyes on the legendary vessel but a lucky few ( with very deep pockets) will now get the chance following the announcement that OceanGate Expeditions will once again embark on an epic two-mile journey to the ocean bed to survey the vessel.
OceanGate Expeditions a privately-owned exploration company first undertook the voyager to survey the vessell back in 2021 and has now announced its second annual expedition to the wreck offering people a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit the shipwreck.
Each ticket costs $ 250,000 a $125,000 increase from the previous year. Explorers will begin their adventure by sailing the expedition ship from St John's in Newfoundland, Canada, to the wreck site where they will disembark onto the Cyclops-class titanium and carbon fiber submersible; Titan which will then submerge 3,800 meters on the floor of the North Atlantic Ocean to the historic maritime heritage site. Each dive lasts bewteen eight to ten hours.
Citizen explorers trained as Mission Specialists, will join a cadre of archaeologists, marine biologists, and Titanic experts on the second annual expedition to study and document the Titanic in more detail than ever before. The Titan submersible is outfitted with the latest camera technologies to capture ultra-high-resolution imagery that will help determine the wreck’s rate of decay and assess the marine life that dwell on the wreck.
With each passing year the ship deteriorates, the mast has fallen to the deck and filmmaker James Cameron's famous dive in 2001 weakened the integrity of the hull. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the ship's hull and structure are likely to collapse in the next 40 years.
Commentng on the expedition P.H. Nargeolet, veteran Nautile submersible pilot:
"Over the past 30 years I have completed more than 30 dives to the Titanic. The bow is the most exciting part of the Titanic to see. Year after year I have seen a lot of deterioration. It isn’t going faster, but you can see more of the inside of the ship as the wreck decays. Also, the mast has fallen down on the well deck. When you see the wreck with your own eyes it is very different than seeing it through an ROV camera. You need to see it with your own eyes. You have a lot of room inside the Titan submersible. We can have five people in the sub and there is a big view port. The sub is very well done, it is simple and easy to pilot, and there is a lot of innovation in Titan.”
Last year’s OceanGate expedition recorded fragments of floor tiles and other debris from the luxury liner along with examined marine life on this man-made reef and created a GIS map of the artifacts that were also found on the Titanic.
The upcoming Titanic Expedition runs May through June, 2022. More than half the Mission Specialist roles for 2022 have already been filled. Aspiring Mission Specialists interested in supporting the Titanic Expedition should contact OceanGate Expeditions for qualifications, availability, and additional details.
