2024-09-03 18:18:31
A bronze statue unseen for decades and feared lost forever is among the discoveries of a new expedition to the remains of the sunken ship Titanic, the Associated Press reported, citing BTA.
The artifact was found by experts from the company RMS Titanic Inc., which has exclusive rights to access items from the legendary vessel located at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. This is the first mission to the wreckage since 2010.
The company published photos taken during the expedition. They show the site and remains of the 1912 shipwreck.
The mission to the remote corner of the Atlantic Ocean where the Titanic sank comes as the US Coast Guard investigates the June 2023 accident on the Titan bathyscaphe, an experimental underwater vehicle owned by another company. Then all five people on board died, including Paul-Henri Narjolet, who was the director of underwater research on the RMS Titanic, the Associated Press recalls.
Findings from this summer’s mission “show a bittersweet mix of preservation and loss,” RMS Titanic said in a statement. A highlight is the rediscovery of the Diana of Versailles statue, last seen in 1986, the company said.
A sadder finding is that a significant portion of the railing surrounding the foredeck of the Titanic has fallen, RMS Titanic said. The facility was in place in 2022, RMS Titanic added.
“The unveiling of Diana’s statue was an exciting moment. But we are saddened by the loss of the iconic railing and other evidence of destruction, which only reinforces our commitment to preserving Titanic’s legacy,” said Thomasina Ray of RMS Titanic.
The crew spent 20 days on site and returned to Providence, Rhode Island on August 9. Experts took more than two million high-resolution photos of the wreckage site, the company said.
Specialists have also mapped the wreckage and the wreckage area, which should improve understanding of the site, RMS Titanic said. The next step is to process the data so it can be shared with the scientific community and identify “historically significant and at-risk artifacts for safe recovery on future expeditions,” the statement added.
Before the expedition began, the company stated that it had a particularly important mission after Narjole’s death.
The results of the Coast Guard investigation will be made public later this month, the Associated Press recalls.
The family of Paul-Henri Narjolet filed a lawsuit against the operator of the Titan bathyscaphe – OceanGate, whose operations were suspended after the tragic accident. OceanGate has not publicly commented on the lawsuit, which was filed in Washington state court, the Associated Press notes.