The Titanic as it had never been seen: High-resolution full-size images of the wreck were released on Wednesday and they could help scientists determine more precisely the conditions in which the famous liner sank in April 1912. These unpublished images, revealed by the BBC, are impressive by their sharpness and the details that we see: the serial number on a propeller, the radio room, the bridge etc. This life-size digital scan gives the impression that the wreck, in 3D, has been pulled out of the murky depths of the ocean.
The wreck of the Titanic was scanned by Magellan Ltd, a seabed mapping company, and Atlantic Productions. BBC screenshot
The images were made in the summer of 2022 by Magellan Ltd, a seabed mapping company, and Atlantic Productions, which is making a documentary about the project. Submersibles, remotely controlled by a team aboard a specialized vessel, spent more than 200 hours probing the wreck along its entire length and width. More than 700,000 images were taken, from all angles, to recreate the whole in 3D.
More than 700,000 images were taken, from all angles, to recreate the whole in 3D. BBC screenshot
"Mapping every square centimeter"
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The depth (at which the Titanic is located, 4000 meters, editor's note) represents a challenge. As well as the currents at the site," Gerhard Seiffert of Magellan Ltd told the BBC. "And we're not allowed to touch anything so we don't damage the wreckage." "You have to map every square centimeter, even uninteresting parts (...) in order to fill the spaces between all the interesting objects," he added.
The Titanic sank in 1912 after hitting an iceberg. BBC screenshot
The wreck of the Titanic was discovered in 1985. BBC screenshot
Leaving Southampton on April 10, 1912 to reach New York, the gigantic liner, the largest in the world at the time of its launch, sank after hitting an iceberg five days later. Of the 2224 passengers and crew, nearly 1500 perished. The wreck was discovered in 1985 650 kilometres from the Canadian coast, at a depth of 4000,<> metres in the international waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Since then, it has been beset by treasure hunters and tourists.
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Parks Stephenson, who identifies himself as a historian and engineer and has been studying the Titanic for years, said he was "blown away" by the new images. "We now have the ability to see the Titanic without human interpretation, but directly from the evidence and data, which is what we really need to piece together what I would call this crime scene," he told the BBC. "We don't really understand the circumstances of the collision with the iceberg yet. We don't even know if he hit him on the starboard side, as we see in the movies," continued the Titanic enthusiast.
