Britannic - Sister Ship Of Titanic - to become underwater museum

Because the wreck lies at a depth of 122 metres (400ft), visitors will reach the ship in small submersibles.

"Our plan is to start off with three- or four-seater submersibles," said Mr Simon Mills, who bought the wreck.

"The Titanic lies in the cold waters of the north Atlantic and is rapidly disintegrating because of iron-eating bacteria. In a couple of hundred years there will be very little that is recognisable.

But the Britannic is completely different matter as she lies in warm shallow waters, is very well preserved and relatively intact. She has been eclipsed by her older sister Titanic for so long but she has her own story to tell."

The four-funnel liner, modified to correct the defects that had contributed to the speed with which the Titanic went down, sank in under an hour after an unexplained explosion.

Recent sonar scan studies indicated that the ship had been sunk by a mine laid out by a German submarine, but some historians have maintained that she was torpedoed by a German submarine. These issues were recently covered in a National Geographic television episode.

"This project is not just about tourism but also about education, conservation and marine archaeology," said Mr Mills. He also stressed that special care would be taken to preserve the integrity of the wreck, out of respect for those who died in its sinking.