In the years since the Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg in 1912, numerous images of the bow of the doomed passenger liner lying at the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean have been shared online. Now, new photographs taken this summer show the ship’s appearance has changed dramatically.
The latest expedition by the American company RMS Titanic Inc., which owns the rights to salvage the sunken liner, discovered that part of the railings on the forward part of the ship’s upper deck, until then intact, had fallen away. The 15-foot-long section now lies on the seabed, directly beneath where it once stood.
“We are saddened by this loss and the inevitable disintegration of the ship and its remains,” the company said in a statement on its website.
The latest scans and images of #TITANIC reveal many changes at the wreck site and provide insight into how the great ocean liner is deteriorating. One notable change is the loss of a 15-foot section of railing from the port side bow. pic.twitter.com/HxbLQ2S5R8
– RMS Titanic, Inc. (@RMSTitanic_Inc) September 2, 2024
The new images of #TITANICE2024expedition reveals one thing for sure: #TITANIC is changing.
After 112 years at the bottom of the #NorthAtlanticThe hostile ocean environment has taken its toll on the TITANIC. pic.twitter.com/y8DKTj8Qi7– RMS Titanic, Inc. (@RMSTitanic_Inc) September 1, 2024
“Over the coming weeks and months we will be conducting a more thorough analysis of the Titanic’s condition and its changes over time,” he continued.
Shocking images reveal that the Titanic is disintegrating at the bottom of the ocean pic.twitter.com/hH7LwMCddT
– Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) September 3, 2024
“While the sinking of the Titanic is inevitable, this data strengthens our mission to preserve and document what we can do before it is too late,” the statement added.
The July expedition, the ninth since the wreck was first visited in 1987, included ocean imaging experts, oceanographers, scientists and historians who collaborated to take new images of the wreck to assess its condition, identify artifacts and areas at risk, and contribute to ongoing research and conservation efforts, the company said.
New photos show Titanic’s iconic bow collapsing pic.twitter.com/IUPNRfC9VL
– Pixfan.co.uk
More than two million photographs were taken and the team searched for numerous artifacts.
On the last day of the expedition, the team found and photographed a sixty-centimetre-high bronze statue of Diana, the Roman goddess of nature and the hunt.
Incredible new images from the Titanic wreck show the bronze statuette of Diana, which sat on the mantelpiece in the ship’s first-class lounge, lying on the seabed. The statuette is a copy of the Roman statue of Diana at Versailles on display at the Louvre. pic.twitter.com/vOtwwfMiRS
– Gareth Harney (@OptimoPrincipi) September 2, 2024
Fine art decorated the halls and rooms. #TITANICBut beauty is a delicate thing. Much of the TITANIC’s artwork was made of organic materials, decomposing in the earth after many decades immersed in the harsh environment of the #NorthAtlantic. pic.twitter.com/zVauzPWDTq
– RMS Titanic, Inc. (@RMSTitanic_Inc) September 1, 2024
The statue, which once sat atop the mantelpiece in the Titanic’s first-class lounge, was torn off and thrown into a storm of debris when the lounge was vandalized on the day of the incident, the company said.
Although the figure was photographed during the 1986 expedition, its whereabouts remained unknown until the July 2024 expedition due to the tradition of secrecy surrounding the Titanic wreck, the company said.
Much of the art decorating the ship’s hallways and rooms “was made from organic materials that had deteriorated after decades of immersion in the harsh environment” of the ocean, the company said Sunday in an Instagram post dedicated to the statue.
However, Diana “stands tall among miles of debris. Like the eternal Roman deities, she is timeless and has been rediscovered thanks to Expedition 2024,” the company added.
Earlier, Cursor wrote that the watch of the millionaire who died in the sinking of the Titanic was sold for a record amount of money.
