A mission to the depths of the Atlantic is aiming to map the wreck of the Titanic in never-before-seen detail, including the belongings of passengers scattered around the seabed.
Two six-tonne remotely-operated vehicles (ROVs) will be launched by RMS Titanic Inc, the only company with salvage rights for the legendary ship. So far it has collected around 5,500 objects from the wreck, which lies 12,500 feet, or 2.4 miles, below the surface.
The current mission however will aim to create an incredibly detailed 3D photographic record of the Titanic by capturing millions of high-resolution photographs.
Laser and magnetic scanners will also be deployed to investigate the site, and hopefully gain new insights into the sinking.
Launching today, the 20-day operation comes a little over a year after the Titan disaster, in which a submersible imploded on its descent to the wreck, killing all five passengers. One of those on board the OceanGate sub was Paul-Henri ‘PH’ Nargeolet, RMS Titanic Inc’s director of research.
Team member Rory Golden told the BBC: ‘It’s tough, but the thing about exploration is that there’s an urge and a drive to keep going. And we’re doing that because of that passion PH had for continuous exploration.’
The mission will be directed from on board the logistics ship Dino Chouest, which will carry the crew and ROVs from Providence, Rhode Island, to the wreck site in the north Atlantic.
When the Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, hitting an iceberg on its way from Southampton to New York, it split in two. The bow, or front, of the ship crashed to the seabed around 600 metres from the stern.
While the remains of the ship have been reasonably well documented, given the difficulty in reaching them, the huge debris field around the wreckage remains relatively unexplored.
However, the two ROVs will not only photograph the ship itself, but also explore a roughly one kilometre-squared section of the seafloor using ultra-high-definition cameras with a special lighting system and a lidar – light detection and ranging – laser scanner.
The mission also marks the first time a magnetometer has been used around the wreckage. The instrument, which detects metals, will even be able to look into the seabed.
The Titanic in numbers
3 years to build
882.75ft long
92.5ft wide
3 propellers
7 decks
20 lifeboats – only enough for a third of the passengers
735 first-class passenger capacity
674 second-class passenger capacity
1,026 crew capacity
1,517 souls lost
Geophysics engineer Alison Proctor told the BBC: ‘It would be an absolute dream to determine what has happened with Titanic’s bow below the seafloor.
‘Hopefully, we’ll be able to deduce whether or not the bow was crushed when it hit the seabed, or if it might actually extend down well into the sediment intact.’
Evan Kovacs, who is leading the imaging programme, added: ‘If all of the weather gods, the computer gods, the ROV gods, the camera gods – if all those gods align, we should be able to capture Titanic and the wreck site in as close to digital perfection as you can get.
‘You would be able to quite literally count grains of sand.’
But it is not sand the team is interested in, rather what might be in or on it. Several specific items are being targeted for investigation, including an electric candelabra, and a Steinway grand piano, both of which are thought to have been spotted on previous visits.
While the wood of the piano will have long since disintegrated, its metal insides and some of the keys may still be visible.
‘For me, it’s the passengers’ possessions, especially their bags, that are of greatest interest,’ said RMS Titanic Inc’s artefact curator. ‘It’s their belongings – if we are able to retrieve more in the future – that help flesh out their stories. For so many passengers, they are just names on a list, and it’s a way to keep them meaningful.’
Visits to the wreck remain controversial, with many believing the site where 1,517 passengers and crew lost their lives should be left untouched.
During the mission, the team will hold a memorial for those who perished, including the Titan’s passengers. A plaque honouring Paul-Henri Nargeolet, nicknamed ‘Mr Titanic’ will also be laid on the seabed.
‘We get [the concern] and understand it,’ said James Penca, a researcher at the company.
‘We dive to Titanic to learn as much as we can from her, and like you should with any archaeological site, we do it with the utmost respect.
‘But to leave her alone, to just let her passengers and crew be lost to history – that would be the biggest tragedy of all.’
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