Since the wreck of the Titanic was discovered on the sea floor of southern Newfoundland, Canada more than three decades ago, the wreck has become one of the most famous in the world, and historians, archaeologists, and filmmakers have all been fascinated by it. It generated intense interest. Last week, a high-resolution video released by a commercial expedition company showed some never-before-seen footage from the wreck of the Titanic . For the wealthy tourists, their footsteps of exploration have not only entered space, but also extended into the deep sea. As a brand-new tourism project, deep-sea tourism has caused many moral disputes while bringing many new experiences.
The $250,000 Deep Sea Journey
This one-minute 8K footage was shot and shared by expedition company OceanGate. This summer, the company organized dive experts, historians, scientists and civilian "mission experts" to survey the wreck of the Titanic. The so-called civilian "mission experts" are ordinary tourists who paid $250,000 each to travel and became one of the very few to see the legendary ship's final resting place. "Oceangate" president Rush (Stockton Rush) told the " New York Times " that compared with the tens of millions of dollars in the cost of space tourism, hundreds of thousands of dollars are only a small cost. The
video shows the Titanic's bow, port anchor, hull and massive anchor chain , some of which have been recorded for the first time. "We're seeing new details in this footage. For example, I've never seen the name of the anchor's manufacturer, Noah Hingley & Sons Ltd., on the port anchor," said Titanic Specialist at Oceangate, Veteran diver Rory Golden said in a statement, "One of the most stunning footage was a single-ended boiler that fell to the sea floor as the Titanic snapped in two. It's worth noting that early When the wreck was identified in 1985, this single-ended boiler was the first thing to be discovered."
▲ Tourists watching the wreck of the Titanic.
In addition to sightseeing, the Ocean Gate expedition team used laser scanning, photogrammetry and sonar technology to monitor the corrosion of the wreckage. Under the action of salt water, microorganisms and deep ocean currents, the steel hull is decaying at a rapid rate. By some estimates, the ship could disappear within a few decades.
Controversy sparked by expeditions to shipwrecks
Not everyone is impressed with 8K graphics. Paul F. Johnston, curator of marine history at the American History Museum, believes that visitors to the "Ocean Gate" are "paying a high price for ballast." "I'm not against commercial developments like this because they don't touch or destroy the wreck," Johnston said in an interview with The New York Times, "and it also brings attention to and the wreck, but in my It seems that there isn't much to learn from the Titanic that we don't know."
In addition, the question of whether and who should visit the wreck of the Titanic has been debated for decades. More than 1,500 passengers died on the Titanic, so the wreckage has an additional layer of cemetery meaning, and whether such a cemetery should be disturbed is an ethical issue worth discussing.
Many historians and scientists object to salvaging artifacts from sunken ships. Johnston is one of several scientists who have written to the court in support of the U.S. government's ban on an underwater salvage company salvaging the Marconi telegraph from the Titanic. In May 2020, a federal judge granted the request of the R.M.S. Titanic salvage company, whose owners said in a recent email they were working on the wreck. Images of the site are checked to determine if the previously developed plan is still feasible.
Deep-sea travel on a par with space travel
Oceangate has already made two expeditions to the wreck of the Titanic, with plans for 2023Do it a third time. The entire expedition lasts 8 hours, including 2.5 hours for one-way diving and ascent.
Oceangate president Rush compares his company's deep-sea expeditions to the recent boom in space tourism. Over the past few years, commercial space travel projects founded by three billionaires Musk, Bezos and Branson have been successful. Similar to the aerospace industry, commercial travel is the first step in promoting the use of submersibles in industry, such as submersibles, which can be of great help in inspecting and maintaining underwater oil rigs, Rush said. In addition, in Rush's view, only commercial projects can satisfy everyone's interest in underwater wrecks. He said: "No public agency will fund the return of the Titanic, and there are other newer and possibly more scientifically valuable wreck sites there besides the Titanic."
▲ "Oceangate" president Rush. ▲ Rush, president of "Ocean Gate". There are many wrecks scattered in the depths of the ocean, such as the German heavy cruiser Bismarck and the American aircraft carrier Lexington. Some wrecks can be seen through ordinary diving, while others can only be seen through more professional deep-sea diving. Considering that the cost of deep-sea tourism is not proportional to market demand, most wreck sites are not commercially viable. . Rush admits that there are actually better and more important wrecks than the Titanic, but few people know about them, and "if no one knows, it's hard to sell them."
News sources: CNN, Legion Magazin, The New York Times, Smithsonian Magazine, the picture comes from the network
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