Titanic mission plans to map wreck in most detail ever

A team of imaging experts, along with historians and scientists are setting sail for the Titanic. Their goal is to gather the most detailed photographic record of the infamous wreck that’s ever been made. The expedition left port at the US city of Providence in Rhode Island.

They plan to use state-of-the-art technology to scan “every nook and cranny” of the ‘unsinkable’ oceanliner. Ultimately, it is hoped that this will offer new insights into the sinking. The Titanic is still being studied and new details are emerging about the sinking as well as life on the ship from when it set sail across the Atlantic.

This marks the first commercial mission since OceanGate’s tragedy last year when five men died trying to visit the ship in a submersible. A joing memorial service at sea will soon be held both for them and the 1,500 passengers and crew who died after the Titanic hit an iceberg in 1912.

The new expedition is led by the American firm that has sole salvage rights and has so far brought around 5,500 objects from the wreck up to the surface. But this will largely be a reconnaissance mission, RMS Titanic Inc based in Atlanta in Georgia says.

Two robotic vehicles will dive deep into the ocean floor. There they will capture millions of high-resolution photographs and make a 3D model of all the debris around the sinking. When the Titanic sank, it split into two pieces, leaving behind a field of debris that includes many items from inside the ship including bottles and chairs.