New photos from a recent mission using underwater robots reveal that the legendary Titanic is slowly decaying at the bottom of the North Atlantic 400 miles from Newfoundland, Canada. The ship, which sank in April 1912 after striking an iceberg, has rested there ever since, claiming the lives of 1,500 people.
Titanic: the bow decaying at the bottom
As images that have come to light show, a large section of the Titanic’s bow rail has now been detached and is on the seabed.
According to experts on the expedition, the section of the railing, which is about 4.5 meters (almost 15 feet long) fell off sometime in the last two years.
Tomasina Ray, director of collections at RMS Titanic Inc, the company that carried out the expedition, said:
“The bow of Titanic is just iconic – you have all these moments in pop culture – and that’s what you think of when you think of the shipwreck. And it doesn’t look like that anymore.
It’s just another reminder of the deterioration that’s happening every day. People ask all the time: ‘How long is Titanic going to be there?’ We just don’t know but we’re watching it in real time.”
Diana of Versailles
The recent discovery of the Diana of Versailles bronze statue, a prized artifact from the Titanic, marks a significant achievement for the research team. Originally photographed in 1986 by Robert Ballard, the statue’s precise location remained elusive for decades.
Measuring roughly two feet in height, the statue was a centerpiece in the opulent first-class lounge, a room renowned for its intricate design and elegance.
When the Titanic split in two, the statue was torn from its mantle and lost in the debris field only to resurface now after years of searching. According to BBC, James Penca, a Titanic researcher and host of the Witness Titanic podcast, described the find as akin to locating “a needle in a haystack,” underscoring the significance of this rediscovery.
RMS Titanic Inc., the sole company authorized to recover items from the wreck, now holds the rights to the statue, which once graced the luxury liner’s most exquisite room.
According to the company, many art objects, sculptures, and statues that were in the halls and rooms throughout the ship are now decomposing on the sandy seabed, submerged in the North Atlantic.
Since the discovery of the wreck in 1985, thousands of objects from the Titanic have been recovered and are on display in museums around the world.
