RMS Titanic Inc., the leading exploration company, has brought back two million photos from the shipwreck site and made surprising discoveries.
During their first expedition to the Titanic in 14 years, RMS Titanic, the company with exclusive rights to explore the wreck site, announced they found a bronze statue believed to have been permanently lost, along with several signs of the ship’s deterioration.
RMS Titanic Inc., based in Atlanta, USA, has retrieved thousands of artifacts from the ship over several decades.
In a press release dated September 2, the company stated they began the expedition on July 12, spending 20 days at the site, deploying remote-operated vehicles to the wreck. Researchers returned with two million photos.
However, this time the company did not recover any artifacts, having to change their plans following lawsuits from the federal government and criticism from scientists who argued that the site should be preserved as a memorial to the victims.
Researchers discovered during the latest expedition that a railing at the bow of the ship has collapsed.
New Discoveries
This expedition occurred about a year after the Titan submersible disaster that resulted in the death of a marine expert leading the research for RMS Titanic.
During the latest expedition, cameras also captured an image of the “Diana of Versailles”, a 0.7-meter tall bronze statue of the Roman goddess Diana. The statue was discovered by the expedition team in 1986 and most experts believed it had vanished permanently.
The bronze statue of Diana found amidst the sediment.
According to the company’s press release, finding the statue of Diana was a top priority for the team. A replica was placed on a mantle in the first-class lounge of the ship, but the lounge was torn apart when the ship sank, and the statue became lost among the wreckage.
The statue of Diana, the Roman goddess of hunting, was found stuck on the ocean floor with one arm raised above the sediment reaching for an arrow. Her bronze cloak blended into the dark sediment.
Video footage shows part of the railing at the bow has collapsed. The bow of the Titanic famously appeared in a scene from the 1997 film Titanic, where the character Jack embraces Rose from behind as she pretends to fly. Most recently, images from another expedition in 2022 showed the bow railing intact.
Tomasina Ray, the director of collections at RMS Titanic, stated in a press release that the research team was saddened by the evidence of decay, “this further strengthens our commitment to preserving the legacy of the Titanic.”
Researchers utilized two remote-operated vehicles to photograph and collect data from the wreck site. The RMS Titanic team is currently focused on processing the data and images to share their findings with the scientific community.
Controversy Over Exclusive Salvage Rights
Holding exclusive rights to salvage artifacts from the wreck for three decades, RMS Titanic has faced efforts from the federal government and scientists to prevent the company from disturbing the wreck site and removing artifacts.
The July expedition aimed for research rather than recovery, but in 7 out of 9 expeditions since 1987, teams have retrieved approximately 5,500 artifacts.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the company attempted to sell artifacts in the early 2000s. Some scientists wish for the Titanic to remain untouched in memory of the lives lost in 1912.
The Titanic lies in international waters off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. There is an agreement between the UK and the US to protect this site. The US passed a law in 2017 requiring government approval to salvage or alter the wreck site.
The Titan disaster last year forced RMS Titanic to make changes. (Photo: Alamy).
In 2020, the US attempted to sue RMS Titanic after the company announced plans to recover the Marconi wireless telegraph from the wreck, which would require cutting into the ship. A federal judge ruled that the company could continue with its plans.
About a year ago, the US government filed for intervention, arguing that RMS Titanic needed government approval before accessing the wreck and debris.
This incident followed the Titan disaster in June 2023, when five individuals attempting to visit the site perished when the submersible exploded. The underwater research director of RMS Titanic, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, was among the deceased.
The Titan is owned by another company, but this tragedy raised questions about expeditions to search for shipwrecks.
Prior to the explosion, RMS Titanic had informed the court that they would recover the telegraph without federal approval. However, in court filings submitted in October 2023, they stated they would halt the upcoming recovery mission, “out of respect for Nargeolet and his family, as well as the four others who recently lost their lives at this site.”
It remains uncertain whether the company will continue to salvage artifacts from this site in the future. A company spokesperson stated in an email to The New York Times on September 2 that they currently have no plans.
The statement read: “The company is reviewing data from this expedition to establish next steps.”
A US attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia indicated that the lawsuit against the company is still ongoing. Federal investigators are still examining the Titan explosion, and the exact cause has yet to be determined. Nargeolet’s family has filed a lawsuit against OceanGate Expeditions, the maker of the Titan.
