A US travel company is set to offer $125,000 dive trips to the RMS Titanic for "citizen scientists".
As of May 2021, OceanGate Expeditions is organising six 10-day expeditions for teams of explorers, who will visit the wreck of the cruise ship, which now sits 3,800 metres below the surface.
The "unsinkable" RMS Titanic tragically sank on April 15, 1912, causing the loss of more than 1,500 lives. In the years since, only a few hundred scientists and researchers have visited the wreck.
"Beginning summer of 2021, a team of explorers will dive 3,800 metres below the surface of the North Atlantic to the wreck site of the RMS Titanic. This historic expedition will open the opportunity for citizen scientists to participate as active members of the team," the OceanGate Expeditions website reads. It is expected that the project will continue in the summer of 2022, with the aim of fully exploring the wreckage.
"Considered Mission Specialists, these individuals will help to achieve scientific goals and document the current condition of the historic wreck. Receiving hands-on training and continued instruction, this unique opportunity will connect explorers and amateur scientists to real scientific adventure."
However, there has been criticism of the plans to take groups of divers down to the resting place of more than 1,500 people.
“All the bones are gone. There are no bodies down there. There are boots and shoes and clothes that show where people were 100 years ago, and that is very somber,” Stockton Rush, president of OceanGate Expeditions told Bloomberg.
The company aims to take divers "to depths far deeper than can be reached with scuba [diving]," but it will cost them. The 10-day expeditions are priced at $125,000.
A total of nine so-called "mission specialists" will be allowed on the each expedition, three per dive, who will each pay $125,000 for the 10-day sail from St John's, Newfoundland, Bloomberg reports. The dive will take six to eight hours to reach the Titanic site, explore, and return to the surface ship.
Explaining the fee, Rush said: "If this was just another money-losing wealthy person’s activity, I don’t see how it scales ... We don’t take passengers, we don’t do trips, we don’t do rides. We’re doing an expedition."
The dives will take place in the "most advanced deep-diving five-person submersibles on earth," which travel at speeds of three knots and ascend and descend at a rate of 50 metres per minute, with life support capabilities of up to 96 hours. The journey to the wreck from the surface will take 90 minutes.
The role of the citizen scientists will be to "help with navigation, maintenance, and cataloguing once-in-a-lifetime historical finds" when aboard the surface supply ship. The company says the submersible "will descend to the ocean floor and soar over the wreck, skimming the ship’s deck as cameras and lasers create a detailed 3D model."
"The Titanic's wreckage has never been fully explored," the company's statement reads. "Throughout the annual survey, dive teams will collect images, video, laser scans, and sonar data to provide an objective baseline of the current condition of the wreck. This baseline will be used to assess the rate of decay over time and help to document and preserve the historic maritime site."
This is just one of a number of ambitious expeditions the company has planned, including to the South Pacific's Coral Sea where unexplored Second World War aircraft and warships rest, as well as to Croatia's underwater museum and a Second World War submarine off the coast of New York.
French business
France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
The specs: 2019 Mini Cooper
Price, base: Dh141,740 (three-door) / Dh165,900 (five-door)
Engine: 1.5-litre four-cylinder (Cooper) / 2.0-litre four-cylinder (Cooper S)
Power: 136hp @ 4,500rpm (Cooper) / 192hp @ 5,000rpm (Cooper S)
Torque: 220Nm @ 1,480rpm (Cooper) / 280Nm @ 1,350rpm (Cooper S)
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 4.8L to 5.4L / 100km
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match info
Union Berlin 0
Bayern Munich 1 (Lewandowski 40' pen, Pavard 80')
Man of the Match: Benjamin Pavard (Bayern Munich)
EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
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Timeline
1947
Ferrari’s road-car company is formed and its first badged car, the 125 S, rolls off the assembly line
1962
250 GTO is unveiled
1969
Fiat becomes a Ferrari shareholder, acquiring 50 per cent of the company
1972
The Fiorano circuit, Ferrari’s racetrack for development and testing, opens
1976
First automatic Ferrari, the 400 Automatic, is made
1987
F40 launched
1988
Enzo Ferrari dies; Fiat expands its stake in the company to 90 per cent
2002
The Enzo model is announced
2010
Ferrari World opens in Abu Dhabi
2011
First four-wheel drive Ferrari, the FF, is unveiled
2013
LaFerrari, the first Ferrari hybrid, arrives
2014
Fiat Chrysler announces the split of Ferrari from the parent company
2015
Ferrari launches on Wall Street
2017
812 Superfast unveiled; Ferrari celebrates its 70th anniversary
