The researcher believes that the modeling can provide completely new information about the causes of the sinking of the Titanic.
The first three-dimensional model has been created from the wreck of the passenger ship RMS Titanic, which sank on its maiden voyage in 1912, says BBC (switch to another service). In the model, parts of the ship can be examined in a way that is hoped to contribute to the investigations of the wreck.
The model was created by the Magellan company, which specializes in deep-sea mapping, and the British TV company Atlantic Productions, which is making a documentary about the project.
The research team took more than 700,000 photos of the wreck with remote-controlled miniature submarines. Filming lasted more than eight days in total.
Titanic explorer Parks Stephenson says that he was “shocked” after seeing the model for the first time.
– It is possible to view the wreck in a way that would never be possible with a miniature submarine. You see the wreck in its entirety as it really looks.
The model shows how the stern of the ship has been bent beyond recognition after hitting the seabed. Details such as the serial number of the ship’s propeller have even been included.
Various chattels from the ship, such as statues and champagne bottles, rest near the wreck. Passengers’ shoes have been left in the bottom mud.
Magellan’s Gerhar Seiffert describes the project as the biggest of his career.
– (The wreck) rests at a depth of almost four kilometers in an area with sea currents. We also can’t touch anything to avoid damaging the wreck, says Seiffert.
The wreck of the Titanic is beginning to deteriorate. In 2019, the first pictures of the ship in 15 years were taken.
The images revealed that parts of the wreck had completely disappeared due to strong ocean currents, corrosion caused by salt and metal-eating bacteria. The 3D model is therefore very useful for researchers.
According to Stephenson, studying the model could provide new information about the events of the Titanic’s last night. The ship sank after hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic.
– We really don’t understand how the collision with the iceberg happened. We don’t even know if the iceberg hit the left side of the ship as shown in the movies. The ship could have run aground with the iceberg, says Stephenson.
1,517 passengers died in the sinking of the Titanic. There were also 64 Finns on board.
Read more:
The Titanic exhibition tells about the tragedies of Finns – assistant researcher Maria Jokela: “A huge human disaster and a shocking experience”
Watch the first video of the Titanic in 15 years – The poor condition of the wreck surprised the researchers