Titanic being “plundered” by tourists
“Tourists, salvagers and clumsy manoeuvrings” are being blamed for the loss of some 8,000 artefacts from the wreck of the Titanic.
The Times reports that images of the wrecked ship were broadcast on the National Geopgraphical channel last night, revealing that parts of the ship had been “devastated” by its visitors.
The newspaper states that tourists can visit the underwater site for GBP20,000, and that one couple were married on the wreck three years ago after landing on the ship’s bow in a mini-submarine.
Robert Ballard, the explorer who discovered the ship’s remains, under the sea off Newfoundland, is quoted by The Times as saying: “The visitors who come to this site have been in very large submarines. When the bump into something, they do damage. You can clearly see, all over the ship, where the common landing sites are knocking holes into the deck.”
He continued: “It is still the grand old lady but it’s not the same grand old lady as when I was down there. To me it a pyramid of the deep. It’s no different to the pyramids of Egypt. I don’t want to go to the pyramids and find them empty. I don’t want to go down to Titanic and not see the Titanic’s jewels on her.”
Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad
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