Titanic opens to commercial visits from deep-sea tourists

The Titan is a five-seater minisubmarine capable of visiting the sunken wreck. Photo / Supplied

Hopeless romantics and maritime enthusiasts now have an opportunity for private tour of the RMS Titanic – providing they have $180,000 to sink on the venture.

That's how much US subsea company OceanGate Expeditions is charging for three guest seats on a submersible, which will be taking passengers to the famous shipwreck at the bottom of the North Atlantic. 3800 metres below sea level, 600km south of Newfoundland, the dive takes eight hours to complete.

And there's no shortage of demand. 36 seats on the mini submersible Titan have been sold over six missions planned for 2021.

In 2001 an american couple married on the bow of the Titanic. Photo / Wikimedia Commons

In spite of the huge loss of life and tragic circumstances associated with the downing of the "unsinkable" ship in 1912, it has captured the imagination of generations. 140 people have visited the resting place of the doomed ocean liner. In 2001 American couple David Leibowitz and Kimberley Miller were married on the deck of the shipwreck.

OceanGate president Stockton Rush, told The Sun what citizen explorers can expect to see on a dive: "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 sombre."

OceanGate president Stockton Rush is hoping to create a digital map of the Titanic. Photo / Supplied

Apart from transport for deep-sea tourists-cum-financiers the Titan submarine has another special mission. The submarine will be conducting a survey 3D Lidar scan of the aging shipwreck, to preserve data for future science and historical studies.

The survey aims to assess the rate of decay on the wreck, and paying guests will have an opportunity to help conduct "hands-on research".

The Titanic Survey Expedition is looking to use the dive to fully map the site and give members of the public a chance to see the hundred-year-old wreck "before she's gone forever."

The Titan is a five-seater minisubmarine capable of visiting the sunken wreck. Photo / Supplied

Guests will be funding the mission to map the wreck. Photo / Supplied

"More people summit Everest in a day than have ever seen the Titanic," says Rush.

"The support of [expedition guests] is vital to our multi-year exploration, research, and digital preservation effort. They will have the unique opportunity to serve in active expeditionary roles alongside oceanographic scientists, archaeological researchers, and Titanic expedition veterans throughout the missions."

1500 died on the Titanic's 1912 maiden sailing. Photo / Wikimedia Commons, Люди поднимаются на борт

The RSS Titanic sank five days into her maiden voyage to New York after hitting an iceberg on April 10, 1912. Almost three quarters of her 2224 passengers died, making her still one of the world's worst maritime disasters.

This year Britain and the US said they would be putting more protections in place, giving either country the opportunity to grant or deny applications to visit the site 600km off the south coast of Newfoundland.