DEPTHS OF UNDERSTANDINGS

NEW REVELATIONS ABOUT THE MILLIONS OF SHIPWRECKS SCATTERED ACROSS THE OCEAN FLOOR FROM THE TITANIC AND SHACKLETON'S ENDURANCE TO THE SLAVE SHIP CLOTILDA ARE NOT ONLY REWRITING OUR HISTORY BUT COULD ALSO HOLD CLUES TO HUMANITY'S SURVIVAL

- ASHIFA KASSAM

AN IMMENSE RAILING, gnawed at by metal-eating bacteria for more than a century, emerged amid the pitch black waters. For more than two hours, the submersible had plunged through the water column to reach the depths of the Atlantic; now its lights bobbed over the prow of a ship dripping in red and orange icicle-like formations.

"My heart just started beating," says Bill Price. "It was just like, 'Oh my God, this is amazing. This is the actual Titanic.""

The 2021 expedition catapulted the 70-year-old retiree on to a shortlist - believed to number fewer than 300 people - who have visited the wreckage of the tragedy since the site was discovered 4km underwater, more than three decades ago.

The hours-long visit came at a steep cost, with Price, a former travel company president, digging into his life savings to fork out the $250,000 fee. "It was a worthwhile investment for me," says Price.

More than a century after the luxury liner collided with an iceberg - its sinking in 1912 claimed the lives of at least 1,500 people and gave rise to a wave of books, films and songs - today, the scattered debris, 700km off the coast of Canada, is at the centre of an ambitious push to foster deep-sea tourism. Since 2021, the Bahamas-based OceanGate Expeditions has ferried about 60 paying customers and 15-20 researchers to the site in a deep-diving submersible, aiming to bring them close to one of the world's best-known shipwrecks.

"We started the business and it was this idea of researchers and wealthy people," says Stockton Rush, the company's president. "Is there a way to match those people who wanted to have an adventure travel experience with researchers who need funding and a sub?"