A new expedition to the Titanic wreck has revealed the effects of its slow disintegration, with much of the ship’s railing now at the bottom of the sea and the bow emerging from the darkness of the Atlantic Ocean depths. The ship sank in April 1912 after hitting an iceberg, killing 1,500 people.
The missing handrail immortalized by Jack and Rose in the film’s famous scene was discovered this summer during a series of underwater robot dives.
“The bow of the Titanic is just iconic and it’s what we think of when we think of the sinking. It’s not that way these days,” said Thomasina Ray, director of collections for RMS Titanic Inc, the company that carried out the expedition. . quoted BBC.
“It’s just another reminder of the deterioration that’s happening every day. People are asking over and over again, ‘How long is the Titanic going to stay there?’ We don’t know, but we’re watching in real time.”
The team believes a section of the railing, about 15 feet long, fell at some point in the last two years. Images and scans Results from a 2022 expedition led by deep-sea mapping company Magellan and documentary filmmakers Atlantic Productions show the grid was still attached, though it had begun to deform.
“At some point the metal gave in and fell,” Thomasina Ray said.
This is not the only part of the ship, located at a depth of 3,800 meters, that is lost to the sea. The metal structure is also corroded by microbes, forming rusty stalactites called rusticles.
According to BBCPrevious expeditions have found parts of the Titanic crumbling. Dives led by explorer Victor Vescovo in 2019 showed the starboard side (the right side of the ship facing the bow) of the officers’ quarters collapsing, destroying the cabins and scattering features such as the captain’s bathroom.
The RMS Titanic Inc. expedition this summer took place in July and August. Two remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) captured more than two million images and 24 hours of high-definition video of the wreck, which broke apart when it sank, with its bow and stern about half a mile away and a debris field all around.
The team also announced the discovery of an artifact they had hoped to find no matter what. In 1986, Robert Ballard, who found the wreckage of the Titanic, saw and photographed the bronze statue of Diana of Versailles.
But its location was unknown and the 60-centimeter-tall figure was no longer documented. The piece was found lying face down in the sediment of a debris field.
“It was like finding a needle in a haystack, and finding it again this year was important,” said James Penka, a Titanic researcher and host of the Titanic programme. podcast Witness Titanic.
“The first class wardroom was the most beautiful and incredibly detailed room on the ship. And the centerpiece of that room was Diana of Versailles. But, unfortunately, when the Titanic broke in two during the sinking, the wardroom was torn apart. In the chaos and destruction, Diana was torn from her cloak and fell into the darkness of the debris field,” he said.
RMS Titanic Inc. holds the salvage rights to the Titanic and is the only company legally authorized to remove items from the wreck. Over the years, the company has recovered thousands of objects from the debris field, some of which are on display around the world.
The company plans to return next year to recover more elements, and the team would like to return the Diana statue to the surface. However, there are those who believe that the sunken ship is a grave that should be left untouched.
On the other hand, James Penka argues that “the rediscovery of the Diana statue is a great argument against leaving the Titanic alone.”
“This was a work of art that needed to be seen and appreciated. And now this beautiful piece of art has been sitting on the ocean floor in total darkness for 112 years,” he said.
“By bringing Diana back for people to see for themselves – the value of that, awakening a love of history, diving, conservation, shipwrecks and sculpture – I could never leave that at the bottom of the ocean,” he concluded.
Author: Margarida Gaidao And Andreia Churra Pereira
Source: CM Jornal
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