A tour operator is offering a cruise with a difference - the chance to explore the wreck of the Titanic.

From May next year, Blue Marble Private will take tourists 4,000m (13,123ft) down to the floor of the Atlantic in a submarine.

The whole package lasts eight days and you'll need a titanic bank balance to afford it.

Booking one of the nine seats available on each expedition costs £86,000.

The trip starts on the coast of Newfoundland in Canada.


Image: The submarine will sweep around the wreckage. Pic: Blue Marble Private

A helicopter or seaplane will take passengers to a support yacht where they will spend the first two days being taught about the ship's workings by guest explorers, scientists and the expedition crew.

The adventurers can then take part in orientation sessions and can help the crew to plan a dive, operate the sonar and use the undersea navigation system.

What the ocean tourists might see

On day three the fun really begins. Three at a time, the passengers will board a titanium and carbon fibre submersible.

It will travel to the ocean depths before it glides over the sunken ship's deck and its famous grand staircase.

Image: The ill-fated White Star Liner sailed from Southampton

"Far fewer people have visited the wreck of the Titanic than the number who have been to space or summited Mount Everest," the company said.

The Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg on 15 April 1912 during her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York.

Image: More than 1,500 people died after the liner struck an iceberg

More than 1,500 of the 2,224 passengers and crew died.

The ship, which was more than 880ft long and 100ft high, had on board some of the wealthiest people in the world.

It also carried hundreds of emigrants from Great Britain, Ireland and across Europe who were seeking a new life in North America.