(WASHINGTON POST): “Stunning” 3D scans reveal new details of the Titanic wreck. The researchers are excited.

More than a century has passed since the Titanic sank on its maiden voyage from England to the United States. The tragedy continues to captivate researchers, Hollywood and the public. Now breakthrough technology may provide clues as to why the most luxurious passenger liner of its time sank.

A very extensive underwater 3D scanning project is being led by British deep-sea mapping company Magellan. This week they presented the “digital twin” of the ship. It has stunning detail of a shipwreck located at a depth of 3,800 meters in the North Atlantic Ocean.

“The volume of data we obtain is enormous,” Magellan CEO Richard Parkinson said in a statement. – The results are astounding.

Parkinson called the effort an “unprecedented mapping and digitization operation of the Titanic … one of the most famous and yet elusive man-made objects.”

It took place over six weeks in 2022 and was challenged by bad weather and technical problems. But subsequent scans mean the ship can then be charted in “extraordinary detail”, according to the company.

No sign of the dead

His scientists observed the gaping hole where the Grand Staircase once lay – the stairway made famous in the 1997 blockbuster film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. They even found a champagne bottle and a propeller serial number.

The images that have been released show no trace of the more than 1,500 lives lost in the disaster.

The ship hit an iceberg while en route to New York and was discovered in 1985 by American oceanographer Robert Ballard and several others.

Previous images of the ship were limited by low light and poor water quality. The Magellan process produced more than 715,000 still images. This provides data that allows the team to create digital models with surprising clarity. It shows the bow and stern of the ship, which separated from the rest of the ship as it sank, and wreckage scattered over a 5 kilometer zone.

A specially equipped ship is anchored in the Atlantic Ocean about 690 kilometers off the coast of Canada. It carries two submarines – called Romeo and Juliet – which are deployed for hours beneath the surface to survey every millimeter of the wreckage.

The wreck was not touched or disturbed in the process, the company said. They ended the mission with a flower laying ceremony in memory of those who died. Magellan is now working with media company Atlantic Productions to make a documentary about the project.

– I have studied the Titanic for 20 years, but this really changed everything, said Titanic investigator and researcher Parks Stephenson, according to a statement. – For the first time, we will see an accurate and true depiction of the entire wreck site. I see details we haven’t seen before.

He hailed the work as “the start of a new chapter” for the next generation of Titanic studies.

– Scanning will also provide researchers and archaeologists with an entirely new form of access, says Helen Farr, a maritime archaeologist at the University of Southampton.

This allows scientists to study ship conditions, document decay and better monitor the marine environment, Farr told The Washington Post.

– The 3D scans and images also tell the story of human disappearance, he added, with personal items such as shoes and cups and plates being retrieved from the ocean floor.

– I live in Southampton, the port city where the RMS Titanic sailed in 1912. I know that this loss will never be forgotten. More than 720 of the 900 crew are from the city. A generation was lost in this disaster, said Farr.

A luxury ship

Even before its ill-fated maiden voyage, the ship was known the world over for its glitz and glamour. There is a gymnasium and swimming pool on board. The passengers included members of America’s and Britain’s wealthiest or most famous families, as well as immigrants on their way to a new life.

The shipwreck became a UNESCO protected cultural heritage site in 2012, as part of efforts to protect and preserve its remains. The ship’s iron continues to erode and rust, said Titanic expert Leon Litvack, a researcher at Queen’s University Belfast – the city where the luxury liner was built.

“This scan is so evocative … she is a formidable ship,” he said.

Low deep-sea oxygen levels had helped keep Titanic relatively well-preserved, Litvack said, and now advanced technology could help uncover more of its secrets.

– This seemingly unsinkable ship sank within hours, he told the Washington Post.

New pictures can trigger a new wave of fascination.

Part of Titanic’s enduring appeal is the scale of the disaster and the mystery of what went wrong. Was it the iceberg, the ship’s speed, the lack of lifeboats, the SOS message not coming out – or all of these factors?

– What ifs, says Litvack, will continue to be discussed for decades to come. – It was more than a shipwreck, he added. It will remain in the public domain.

Norway exclusive rights: Aftenposten