New insights into the sinking?: 3D images show the complete Titanic wreck for the first time

New insights into the sinking?
3D images show complete Titanic wreck for the first time

5/18/2023 3:34 am

In painstaking work, submersibles are repeatedly sent to the remains of the Titanic, thousands of meters below, to take pictures. The result is a spectacular reconstruction of the wreck – which might help researchers.

Deep sea mapping company Magellan and its partner Atlantic Productions have produced the first accurate 3D reconstruction of the sunken Titanic. A total of more than 700,000 pictures of the former ocean giant were taken from all possible angles. “The world’s most famous shipwreck has been unveiled in a way never seen before,” Magellan said in a statement accompanying the images released now. The Titanic lies around 3,800 meters deep in the Atlantic Ocean and sank in 1912. The 3D reconstruction is expected to provide new insights into the course of the catastrophe.

The pictures are intended to provide a completely new view – as if the water around the ship had been drained. Titanic analyst Parks Stephenson told the BBC news channel that the model was “one of the first big steps in moving the Titanic story towards evidence-based research and not speculation”. There are still open questions that need to be answered.

The many recordings from the ocean are said to have been made by remote-controlled submersibles. “The depth of almost 4000 meters was a challenge. There are also currents at the site – and we weren’t allowed to touch anything so as not to damage the wreck,” a Magellan official told the BBC.

When the Titanic sank, around 1,500 of the 2,200 passengers died. The wreck was not discovered until 1985 southeast of the Canadian province of Newfoundland. Bacteria eating through the ship’s hull, rust and the ocean currents take a toll on the remains. The steamer collided with an iceberg on its maiden voyage from Southampton in England to New York – probably the most famous disaster in shipping.