Titanic submarine tour is world’s most exclusive tourist trip as adventurers pay £195,000 per seat

For a group of wealthy adventurers, it was the most beautiful journey money could buy.

And the thrilling prospect of seeing the Titanic firsthand dispelled any fears they had about descending two and a half miles into the icy depths of the Atlantic in a submarine.

The supposedly ‘unsinkable’ ship, which sank at the cost of 1,500 lives on its maiden voyage in 1912, has long fascinated explorers.

But it’s only this decade that paying passengers have had the chance to see the Titanic shipwreck firsthand – on a submarine tour.

At $250,000 (£195,000) per seat, tickets don’t come cheap – and far from being ordinary tourists, the so-called citizen explorers are expected to take an active role in the fact-finding mission to the maritime heritage site.

This is the latest sighting of the submarine Titan, which launched on Sunday. It can be seen in a photo shared by Hamish Harding’s company. He and the four others on board remain missing

As OceanGate Expeditions, which has been running the Titanic tours for three years, stated earlier this year, “We are really inspired by [passengers’] sense of adventure, great life experiences and a willingness to jump right in.”

It said this year’s Titanic Survey expedition would “enable a select few individuals to explore the ship that was once the pinnacle of opulence, but whose journey would end tragically.”

The research vehicle, called Titan, is a miniature submarine described as the world’s only carbon fiber submarine capable of diving five people. A pilot, a “content expert” and three paying guests were allegedly taken to the ocean floor. The company advertises it as “a once in a lifetime opportunity” to “dive safely to the wreck of the Titanic” on a “3,500-meter journey to the bottom of the sea.”

The 7-meter submarine has a dome window at the front where guests can sit and enjoy the view. Behind it are the pilot’s controls and basic guest seats. A Q&A page of the OceanGate Expeditions website urges passengers to “restrict your diet” for the trip, but for those who need one, there’s a small toilet in the forward dome called the “best seat in the house.” ‘.

Customers are told that ‘if money is no object and you don’t mind being close’ they can join one of the trips.

Previous explorers include James Cameron, director of the 1997 Hollywood blockbuster Titanic starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, the company says. OceanGate Expeditions, a US-based not-for-profit company, adds that it is dedicated to exploring the undersea world and offers “rare opportunities for citizen explorers and researchers to work together to advance our understanding of our home, the Earth,” expand.

With this in mind, last Friday, June 16, a group of a dozen paying explorers set off from St. They sailed 350 miles to the wreck’s coordinates and would spend eight days aboard the ship, taking turns to complete the eight-hour submarine mission to Titanic.

Photos posted online showed ominous stormy gray seas, with billionaire British guest Hamish Harding, 58, saying it had been the ‘worst winter in 40 years’. At 4 a.m. local time on Sunday morning, there was supposedly a ‘weather window’ and the submarine was launched. Mr Harding’s aviation company tweeted: ‘The submarine has had a successful launch and Hamish is currently diving. Stay tuned for further updates!’

OceanGate Expeditions is one of the few companies that offers the tours. Tickets cost up to $250,000

A look at what it’s like to see the Titanic in the OceanGate Expedition

Titanic departs Southampton, Great Britain, for her maiden and final voyage on April 10, 1912

A view from the submarine looking at the wreck of the Titanic

Leading up to the voyage, OceanGate had said, “Our crew has been diligently preparing our equipment and updating our checklists for the 2023 Titanic Expedition, but we always expect new challenges.

‘Fortunately we have chartered an icebreaker as an expedition ship! The Polar Prince…has a long history of clearing harbor ice and escorting ships through ice-choked marine environments.’

The submarine, which had 96 hours of air, is designed to surface automatically if it runs into trouble, and maintains contact with the surface craft through an internet connection powered by Elon Musk’s Starlink system. But an hour and 45 minutes into Mr. Harding’s mission, contact was lost.