They made the first full-sized digital scan of the Titanic, which sunk to the bottom around an amazing height of 8500m and 2500ft in the Atlantic. It has been made using deep sea mapping. It provides a different and creative 3D view of the entire ship—making it seem to be seen as if all the water has been drained away. The hope is that this will shed new light on exactly what happened to the liner, which sank in 1912.
Over 1500 people died during the time the ship struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. The Titanic has been looked all over at and explored since the wreck was discovered in the year 1985, but it’s so huge that, in the dark of the deep sea, cameras can only ever show us blurry shots and photos of the decomposing ship.
The new photos of the wreck in its entirety show a complete view of the Titanic. It has two parts, with the bow and the stern separated by about 800m down. A huge debris field is surrounded by a broken vessel.
The scan was carried out in the summer of 2022 by Magellan Ltd, a deep-sea mapping company, and Atlantic Productions, who are making a documentary about the project.
Submersibles, remotely controlled by a team on board a specialist ship, spent more than two hundred hours counting the length and breadth of the wrecking. They took more than seven hundred thousand images from every angle of the ship, creating an identical 3D reconstruction.
Magellan’s Gerhard Seiffert, who led the planning for the expedition, said it was the largest underwater scanning project he’d ever undertaken.
“The depth of it, almost four thousand meters deep, represents a challenge, and you have currents at the site, too and we’re not allowed to touch anything so as not to damage the wreck,” he explained.
“And the other challenge is that you have to map every square centimeter – even uninteresting parts, like on the debris field you have to map mud, but you need this to fill in between all these interesting objects.”
The scan shows both the scale of the ship, as well as some minute details, such as the serial number on one of the propellers.
The bow, now covered in stalactites of rust, is still immediately recognizable even one hundred years after the ship was lost. Sitting on top is the boat deck, where a gaping hole provides a glimpse into a void where the grand staircase once stood.
The stern though is a chaotic mess of metal. This part of the ship collapsed as it corkscrewed into the sea floor.
In the surrounding debris field, items are scattered, including ornate metalwork from the ship, statues, and unopened champagne bottles. There are also personal possessions, including dozens of shoes resting on the sediment.
Parks Stephenson, who has studied the Titanic for many years, said he was “blown away” when he first saw the scans.
“It allows you to see the wreck as you can never see it from a submersible, and you can see the wreck in its entirety, you can see it in context and perspective. And what it’s showing you now is the true state of the wreck.”
Over 1500 people died during the time the ship struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. The Titanic has been looked all over at and explored since the wreck was discovered in the year 1985, but it’s so huge that, in the dark of the deep sea, cameras can only ever show us blurry shots and photos of the decomposing ship.
The new photos of the wreck in its entirety show a complete view of the Titanic. It has two parts, with the bow and the stern separated by about 800m down. A huge debris field is surrounded by a broken vessel.
The scan was carried out in the summer of 2022 by Magellan Ltd, a deep-sea mapping company, and Atlantic Productions, who are making a documentary about the project.
Submersibles, remotely controlled by a team on board a specialist ship, spent more than two hundred hours counting the length and breadth of the wrecking. They took more than seven hundred thousand images from every angle of the ship, creating an identical 3D reconstruction.
Magellan’s Gerhard Seiffert, who led the planning for the expedition, said it was the largest underwater scanning project he’d ever undertaken.
“The depth of it, almost four thousand meters deep, represents a challenge, and you have currents at the site, too and we’re not allowed to touch anything so as not to damage the wreck,” he explained.
“And the other challenge is that you have to map every square centimeter – even uninteresting parts, like on the debris field you have to map mud, but you need this to fill in between all these interesting objects.”
The scan shows both the scale of the ship, as well as some minute details, such as the serial number on one of the propellers.
The bow, now covered in stalactites of rust, is still immediately recognizable even one hundred years after the ship was lost. Sitting on top is the boat deck, where a gaping hole provides a glimpse into a void where the grand staircase once stood.
The stern though is a chaotic mess of metal. This part of the ship collapsed as it corkscrewed into the sea floor.
In the surrounding debris field, items are scattered, including ornate metalwork from the ship, statues, and unopened champagne bottles. There are also personal possessions, including dozens of shoes resting on the sediment.
Parks Stephenson, who has studied the Titanic for many years, said he was “blown away” when he first saw the scans.
“It allows you to see the wreck as you can never see it from a submersible, and you can see the wreck in its entirety, you can see it in context and perspective. And what it’s showing you now is the true state of the wreck.”
