An emotional journey to the Titanic's resting place was captured in a gripping 2022 BBC documentary, which featured awestruck passengers aboard OceanGate's Titan submersible. The same vessel faced a disastrous implosion with a five-person crew onboard just last month.
The footage showcased participants on a prior voyage, spellbound, and moved to tears upon witnessing the wreck of the legendary Titanic. They embarked on a dramatic descent of approximately 12,500 feet into the Atlantic Ocean to experience the remains of the historic ship up close.
One of the passengers featured in the documentary was Renata Rojas, who had dreamed of seeing the Titanic wreckage since childhood. Fulfilling her lifelong dream wasn't cheap, with the expedition carrying a hefty price tag of up to $250,000.
Check out the video below:Rojas, who had spent three decades saving for the experience, told the BBC, "I'm not a millionaire. I've been saving money for a long, long time. I made a lot of sacrifices in my life to be able to get to Titanic. I don't have a car, I didn't get married yet, I don't have children. And all those decisions were because I wanted to go to Titanic."
Once onboard the Titan, she said, "I just need to get there. Even if it's just a debris field, I'll be very happy with just paying my respects in the debris field."
The moment the iconic bow of the ship appeared through a port window, Rojas couldn't contain her emotions, admitting through her tears, "I'm just crying. We made it. We finally made it."
The experience left passengers at a loss for words, with fellow voyager Oisin Fanning echoing the sentiment: "I can't believe it, in real life when you see it. It's so enormous. It's incredible. I'm lost for words actually, to be honest. It's that good."
Upon surfacing, the magnitude of what they'd just witnessed continued to resonate. Rojas marveled, "She's big. To imagine how big she must have been: there must have been 20ft of wreck inside the sand. Even like that, what you're seeing is 20ft high. Amazing to realize that you're at Titanic. It's no longer a myth for me - it's reality, it's right there. You're so close to it that you can actually touch it."
On Thursday (July 7), it emerged that OceanGate was suspending all exploration and commercial operations.
This move comes after last month's Titan submersible implosion claimed the lives of five individuals, including the CEO of the company, during a visit to the Titanic's underwater resting place.
On June 18, tragedy struck when the Titan submersible went off the radar during a trip to the Titanic wreckage site.
The catastrophic implosion that ensued claimed the lives of five passengers, including notable figures such as British billionaire Hamish Harding, Pakistani entrepreneur Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman, famed French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and OceanGate's CEO, Stockton Rush.
