Britannic has long been one of the major bucket-list dive that many deep wreck sport divers pursue. Diving there require quite a few things to get permission from the owner and the Greek government, among which are a quite heavy fee (and more fees depending on what you are going to do while down there), requirements that each group brings their own licensed doctor that is specialized in diving, and hire a guide. The price tag per diver (not including equipment or travel) that I got from a group who is planning a trip next year put it at around $6k per diver for a 2 week trip, with a plan of total of 4 dives at the wreck. Each dive will have a bottom time (time spent at the wreck) of about 20-30 minutes, and then 3-4 hours of decompression hanging in blue water.
If I own a ship on land I have to pay property taxes but if I just sink it to the bottom of the ocean I have people pay me!
Maritime laws just seem overly weird though. If I lost a car in the woods then after 100 years it seems pretty reasonable that any scrapper could take it and salvage what they want ...
> Britannic has long been one of the major bucket-list dive that many deep wreck sport divers pursue.
There were less people non-commercial diving below 100m, than people reaching the top of the everest. If someone has Britannic on his list, then he's ether an extremely talented very serious technical diver with 500+ logged dives or it's just a pipe dream.
They do no longer grant permission for open circuit so its mostly a philosophical question. Helium is very expensive currently because of Russia, so it would possible be cheaper to buy a rebreather than do four 100m dives with open circuit.
I do not know many people who would rent a rebreather, as those tend to become fairly personal to the diver when doing that kind of dives, and the required dive training is based on specific brands and units.
In the header image, the interesting gray-bar informational panel placed on the wreck caught my eye. I wonder what it's for?
I assume it's to calibrate scale and color for the underwater photography equipment, but would be interested to learn more from someone who knows for certain.
It's a photogrammetry scale card made for the National Park Service, probably the Submerged Resources Center which often assists with this kind of stuff.
The NPS has a few different ones for paleontology, underwater archaeology, etc.
Britannic has long been one of the major bucket-list dive that many deep wreck sport divers pursue. Diving there require quite a few things to get permission from the owner and the Greek government, among which are a quite heavy fee (and more fees depending on what you are going to do while down there), requirements that each group brings their own licensed doctor that is specialized in diving, and hire a guide. The price tag per diver (not including equipment or travel) that I got from a group who is planning a trip next year put it at around $6k per diver for a 2 week trip, with a plan of total of 4 dives at the wreck. Each dive will have a bottom time (time spent at the wreck) of about 20-30 minutes, and then 3-4 hours of decompression hanging in blue water.
> owner
What a strange concept, owner of a shipwreck... But, indeed, TFA links to a Q&A with the British owner who purchased the wreck in 1996:
https://thehistorypress.co.uk/article/qa-with-simon-mills-ow...
It's a pretty clever life hack.
If I own a ship on land I have to pay property taxes but if I just sink it to the bottom of the ocean I have people pay me!
Maritime laws just seem overly weird though. If I lost a car in the woods then after 100 years it seems pretty reasonable that any scrapper could take it and salvage what they want ...
You still have to have laws about it, or else I could take your car when it's been sitting in the street for two days.
> Britannic has long been one of the major bucket-list dive that many deep wreck sport divers pursue.
There were less people non-commercial diving below 100m, than people reaching the top of the everest. If someone has Britannic on his list, then he's ether an extremely talented very serious technical diver with 500+ logged dives or it's just a pipe dream.
If the $6k is for the whole trip that sounds a deal (ignoring I assume airfare).
Of the fees alone are $6k that’s moderately high but not unreasonable.
I’m curious how much renting rebreathers instead of tanks would add to the cost?
They do no longer grant permission for open circuit so its mostly a philosophical question. Helium is very expensive currently because of Russia, so it would possible be cheaper to buy a rebreather than do four 100m dives with open circuit.
I do not know many people who would rent a rebreather, as those tend to become fairly personal to the diver when doing that kind of dives, and the required dive training is based on specific brands and units.
Fascinating!
In the header image, the interesting gray-bar informational panel placed on the wreck caught my eye. I wonder what it's for?
I assume it's to calibrate scale and color for the underwater photography equipment, but would be interested to learn more from someone who knows for certain.
And why does it have a U. S. National Parks Service logo on it?
It's a photogrammetry scale card made for the National Park Service, probably the Submerged Resources Center which often assists with this kind of stuff.
The NPS has a few different ones for paleontology, underwater archaeology, etc.
Informative answer, thanks.
Yes, looks like ground control points for photogrammetry. https://www.pix4d.com/blog/diving-into-underwater-photogramm...