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It’s been just two years since an OceanGate submersible imploded and killed five people while en route to view the wreckage of the Titanic. That avoidable tragedy isn’t stopping yet another rich person from trying to do it again.
Since the Oceangate disaster which killed the company’s CEO Stockton Rush, British businessman Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, and French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, expeditions to the wreckage of the Titanic have been off limits. That may be about to change, according to a new report.
Why would someone visit the Titanic wreckage again?
“Besides it being a wreck of historical significance, the fact that it lies at such great depth makes it fascinating to visit,” Patrick Lahey, the CEO of Triton Submarines, told the New York Post. “Titanic is a wreck that’s covered in marine life and soft coral. People want to go there for the same reason that they want to climb Mount Everest.”
The wreckage of the Titanic may be “fascinating to visit,” but it is also 12,500 feet below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. That means attempting to visit it is not something to be taken lightly. Then again, if you have more money than sense, it can be quite an appealing idea.
According to a knowledgeable source who spoke with the Post, “somebody is going down to the Titanic in a couple weeks.” They added, that “it’s a billionaire” and “going down there will cost $10 million.” The source also said the billionaire’s name is one people would know.
“He’ll want to make an announcement that he is the first person to go to the Titanic since the tragedy,” the source said as the reasoning for not disclosing who will be attempting it.
Companies are still building subs to visit the Titanic
Lahey’s Triton Submarines, whose sub was the first to record footage of the Titanic in 4K in 2019, isn’t the company that will be supplying the submersible craft to the unknown billionaire, but they are developing a commercially available sub that could be used to visit the Titanic wreckage in the future. Their $20 million sub is scheduled to be finished by next year.
“I’m very excited to be building this and to change the narrative,” he said. Hopefully his sub, and the billionaire with plans to visit the Titanic do a better job of making sure their craft is safer then the ill-fated OceanGate Titan.