A recent expedition to the Titanic wreck has revealed significant changes, highlighting the ongoing deterioration of the iconic ship. The RMS Titanic Inc, responsible for the expedition, discovered that a large section of the ship’s railing has fallen to the sea floor.
This particular railing was famously featured in the film Titanic, where Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet’s characters, Jack and Rose, lean over it.
It has now been documented as lying separated from the ship. Tomasina Ray, the director of collections at RMS Titanic Inc, described the discovery as a stark reminder of the ship’s continuous decay.
Ray stated, “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 any more.”
The expedition involved a series of dives using underwater robots which captured images showing the wreck’s ongoing transformations. The Titanic, which sank in April 1912 after hitting an iceberg, has been submerged under the Atlantic for over 100 years and continues to disintegrate.
The team believes the railing, measuring around 4.5 meters in length, fell off within the past two years. A 2022 expedition by Magellan and Atlantic Productions had shown the railing was still attached but visibly buckling. “At some point, the metal gave way and it fell away,” added Ray.
Underwater footage reveals that the metal structure is being consumed by microbes, producing rust formations known as rusticles. Historical expeditions have recorded other parts of the ship collapsing, including the 2019 dives led by Victor Vescovo that showed the starboard side of the officer’s quarters deteriorating.
This summer’s expedition, conducted in July and August, utilized two remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to generate over two million images and 24 hours of high-definition footage. This data will enable RMS Titanic Inc to create an exceptionally detailed 3D digital scan of the wreck site.
In addition to documenting new deteriorations, the team made an exciting rediscovery. A bronze statue, ‘Diana of Versailles,’ which adorned the Titanic’s first-class lounge, was found lying face up in the debris field. Originally seen and photographed by Robert Ballard in 1986, the statue had not been located again until now.
James Penca, a Titanic researcher and presenter of the Witness Titanic podcast, remarked on the rediscovery’s significance, “It was like finding a needle in a haystack, and to rediscover it this year was momentous.” The statue represents a tangible connection to the ship’s grandeur and history.
RMS Titanic Inc, holding the salvage rights to the wreck, plans to continue retrieving items from the site. They aim to recover more artifacts in subsequent expeditions, including the Diana statue.
This discovery fuels the debate over whether artifacts should be retrieved from the wreck, which some consider a gravesite. Penca argues that bringing such artifacts back allows people to connect with history and promotes the appreciation of art and preservation, “This was a piece of art that was meant to be viewed and appreciated. And now that beautiful piece of art is on the ocean floor… in pitch black darkness where she has been for 112 years.”
The RMS Titanic Inc will continue to review the new footage and images, with more findings expected to be published in the upcoming months, shedding light on the ongoing changes at the Titanic wreck site.