DIVING INTO HISTORY TO THE LEGENDARY

UNSINKABLE RMS TITANIC

Second departure added for August 2006

Twenty years after Dr Robert Ballard had the first-ever sighting of the massive hull of the RMS Titanic, Deep Ocean Expeditions are offering adventurers the opportunity to see with their own eyes the vessel that was once the height of opulence but whose journey would end so tragically in July 1912 with the loss of 1500 lives.

The RMS Titanic was the brainchild of the famous White Star Line, specialists in luxury passenger vessels, and Harland & Wolff, the Irish shipyard that designed and built her.

One-sixth of a mile long, Titanic was not only the largest moving object ever built by man, she was also the most opulent.  More than 14,000 labourers and craftsmen poured their hearts and souls into her design, construction and appointment, toiling on her for four long years. So mighty was Titanic, with her sheer size and cutting-edge watertight features, she was promptly touted as ‘unsinkable’.  That epithet proved particularly ironic the night of 14 April 1912 when Titanic, just days into her maiden transatlantic crossing, struck an iceberg and immediately began to take on water. Within a few short hours, the greatest ship in the world had come to rest on the bottom of the ocean, taking with her the lives of more than 1,500 people.

The mystique surrounding the Titanic disaster has diminished little over time; each generation preserving the memory in books, music and movies.  Today, the story stands as modern myth: a luxurious dream ship brimming with the gilded age's celebrities and its steerage class; a technological wonder so sophisticated, so sound, as to be deemed invulnerable.  Add to that the tragic elements of human error and the inexorable power of nature and the tale of Titanic, with its myriad stories of heartbreak and heroism, becomes a poignant chapter in history.  

All dives to the wreck are made respectfully and professionally.  The journey down to the wreck – at 3800 metres below the ocean surface - will be onboard one of two MIR submersibles carried aboard the support vessel, Akademik Keldysh.  Both are constructed of nickel steel and designed to withstand the enormous pressures at these ocean depths.   Descending at a rate of 31 metres per minute, the MIR’s 18cm thick porthole will be the window to the undersea world although below 250 metres all traces of sunlight will be gone and, to conserve power, the submersible’s descent to the wreck is without external lights.

The dive is expected to last around 11-12 hours. On reaching the wreck, illuminated by the submersible’s powerful lights, the viewing port will be filled with images of the RMS Titanic: her huge anchors - larger than the submersible, the capstans, the bridge, the famous grand staircase and the Marconi Room, from where the world’s very first SOS was broadcast. 

The Akademik Keldysh is the best deep-diving support vessel in the world.  The ship is owned and operated by the Moscow-based Shirshov Institute of Oceanology.  During each dive, they continue to support science by collating data, collecting physical samples (not artifacts) and recording imagery from the site. 

A second departure of the Operation Titanic Expedition has been announced for 2006, both dates are in August: 9-21 August and 20 August-1 September 2006.  The expedition starts and ends in St John’s, Newfoundland. 

The cost for divers is £22,899 per person.  Non-divers sharing a twin cabin pay £2,909 per person.  Prices includes a seat on the MIR submersible for the scientific expedition tour of the RMS Titanic wreck; accommodation and meals onboard the Akademik Keldysh and one night’s hotel accommodation in St John's.  International flights from/to St John’s are not included.

Notes to editors:

1)    WildWings has been representing the unique underwater experiences designed and developed by Deep Ocean Expeditions (DOE) since 1998, when DOE undertook the first-ever diving expedition to the wreck of the RMS Titanic.

2)    For reservations and enquiries please contact WildWings on 0117 9658 333 / wildinfo@wildwings.co.uk

3)    WildWings website, www.wildwings.co.uk

4)    For press enquiries and images please contact Debra Taylor at toucanmoon on 01491 613424 / 07956 852197 debra@toucanmoon.com

prepared by toucanmoon/28 April 2006

For press enquiries please contact Debra Taylor at toucanmoon 01491 613424 debra@toucanmoon.com

WildWings
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Prepared by toucanmoon /12 January 2005
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