New photos of the world’s most famous shipwreck show Titanic as it has never been seen before.
Remarkable 3D visualization, achieved using deep-sea mapping technology, shows what the RMS Titanic would look like resting on the seabed if the water around it were removed.
The hope with these images, according to researchers, is that the never-before-seen views will shed new light on how the fateful ocean liner sank more than a century ago.
The scan was carried out last year by a deep-sea mapping company Magellan Ltd.in association with Atlantic Productionsa company that is currently making a film about the project.
Scientists hope the 3D scans will reveal more about what happened the night the Titanic sank.
Magellan / Atlantic Productions
“I felt there was something much bigger here that we could get from Titanic,” Atlantic Production CEO Anthony Geffen told CBS News. “If we could scan it, if we could capture in all its details … we could find out how it sank and how the different parts of the boat fell apart and we can find many personal stories down there too.”
The daunting task was a great success, despite the ship being 3,800 meters below sea level off the coast of Newfoundland.
The images show intricate details that are nothing short of astonishing.
It is the first full-size scan of the wreckage, which is in two parts. The bow and stern are about 800 meters apart and surrounded by a huge field of debris.
The scan is detailed enough to show the serial number of one of the propellers. The images also show that the bow is still recognizable, while the stern was crushed due to its rapid descent and crash into the seabed.
The serial number of a propeller can be entered.
Magellan / Atlantic Productions
Titanic’s bow is still recognizable even after more than 100 years underwater.
Magellan / Atlantic Productions
Since the wreck was discovered in 1985, it has been reviewed in detail but only through fragmentary snapshots. The rapidly deteriorating materials have also made it difficult to examine the boat.
“What we have now for the historical record is, before it falls apart, literally a record of everything related to the wreck of the Titanic, which will be there forever,” Geffen told CBS.
The 3D scan consisted of 700,000 photographs taken by underwater craft.
Magellan / Atlantic Productions
The images were obtained by remote-controlled underwater vessels that spent more than 200 hours meticulously mapping the wreckage. The team was able to collect more than 700,000 images from different angles, which enabled the detailed 3D reconstruction.
“Map every square centimeterincluding seemingly unremarkable areas such as the debris field and mud, was crucial to creating a cohesive representation of this significant site, Gerhard Seiffert, Magellan’s lead planner for the excursion, told the BBC.
In this April 10, 1912 file photo, the Titanic leaves Southampton, England on its maiden voyage.
AP Photo
The Titanic, then thought to be unsinkable, struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage from Southampton, UK to New York on April 15, 1912. The tragedy claimed the lives of more than 1,500 people.
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