The haunting return to the Titanic: Expedition to the wreck sets sail just one year after the OceanGate tragedy which saw five killed while trying to visit the lost ship - as experts reassure 'we aren't using manned submersibles this time around' READ MORE: Incredible 3D scans show Titanic like NEVER before By Jonathan Chadwick For Mailonline Published: 08:43, 12 July 2024 | Updated: 08:43, 12 July 2024 e-mail View comments Adventurers set sail for the wreck of the Titanic on Friday – marking the first expedition since the doomed OceanGate mission over a year ago that tragically killed five men. The Georgia-based firm that owns the salvage rights to Titanic, called RMS Titanic Inc, is probing the sunken ocean liner using two remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). According to the BBC , the robotic vehicles will reach 12,000ft (3,700 metres) down – the bottom of the North Atlantic, where the remains of the Titanic lie.
They will capture millions of high-resolution photos to make a new 3D model of the debris, which is quickly deteriorating and could be lost in a few decades. A plaque will also be laid on the seabed in honour of Frenchman Paul-Henri Nargeolet, director of research at RMS Titanic Inc, one of the five Titan victims . The grandest ship: RMS Titanic departing Southampton on April 10, 1912.
She would never return from this maiden voyage Already, experts at deep-sea mapping company Magellan Ltd took took thousands of digital images of the wreck in summer 2022 to create a stunning 3D reconstruction (pictured) Read More See Titanic like NEVER before: First ever full-sized scans of the shipwreck could finally shed light on what happened the night the liner sank in 1912 Already, experts at deep-sea mapping company Magellan Ltd took took thousands of digital images of the wreck in summer 2022 to create a stunning 3D reconstruction . The BBC has been covering preparations for the expedition which is set to leave from Providence, Rhode Island today. 'We want to see the wreck with a clarity and precision that's never before been achieved,' said co-expedition lead David Gallo.
On Reddit this week, RMS Titanic Inc said it plans to keep the robots in the water for 20 days to obtain as much information as possible about the wreck site. The company assured people that 'we aren't using manned submersibles this time', just over a year since the tragedy involving the Titan submersible, operated by US firm OceanGate. Titan started its dive to Titanic on the morning of June 18, 2023, but all contact with its mothership was lost an hour and 45 minutes into the dive.
Following a frantic four-day search, a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) tragically discovered Titan's debris, about 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic. All five men on board – Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman, British billionaire Hamish Harding, French explorer Paul-Henry Nargeolet, and OceanGate chief executive Stockton Rush – died instantly when Titan suffered a 'catastrophic implosion' , authorities ruled. Rush – who was pushing cut price tickets at $150,000 – had described a deep sea trip aboard Titan as 'safer than crossing the street'.
He repeatedly ignored chilling warnings his vessel was a deathtrap that 'would kill someone', describing them as 'a serious personal insult'. Famous landmarks that are known for their height pale in comparison to the depth of the Titanic, with the Statue of Liberty just 305ft, the Eiffel Tower just 1,083ft and the Empire State Building at 1,250ft Authorities raised the alarm on June 18, 2023 when an OceanGate Titan vessel that vanished less than two hours into its venture towards the historic shipwreck French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet (left) also was on Titan, along with Stockton Rush (right), CEO of the OceanGate Expedition Five people were onboard, including British billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding and Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, who was just 19 Read More OceanGate co-founder claims he can 'safely' send humans to Venus - despite the doomed Titan voyage Titan's 'catastrophic implosion' would have been caused by a sudden change from low pressure to high pressure inside the sub, possibly triggered by a defect in its walls. In the depths of the deep ocean, the pressure increases to such an extent that only specially-adapted organisms can survive.
Titanic director James Cameron, who's renowned for his own deep-sea exploration missions, has said Titan had 'three potential failure points' and indicated that its 'Achilles heel' was the carbon fiber hull. However, the US Coast Guard is still investigating what exactly led to the implosion. 'We are working closely with our domestic and international partners to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the incident,' board chair Jason Neubauer said in a statement last month.
It also said 'presumed human remains' and more Titan debris had been recovered. The wreckage of the iconic ship sits 12,500ft underwater around 370 miles from Newfoundland, Canada Titan has been described as a submarine, but it was actually a submersible. A submarine is an independent cruiser with its own power supply and air renewal system, while a submersible needs to be supported by a surface vessel or shore team.
On average, submarines can go to around a maximum depth of 1,476 feet (450 metres), according to Marine Insight – just over the height of Chicago's Willis Tower. But OceanGate's Titan submersible was designed to reach depths over eight times greater than this, at a maximum of 13,123 feet (4,000 metres). Last year's tragic voyage is not enough to deter explorers from probing the rapidly-deteriorating wreck, however.
Larry Connor, a real estate billionaire from Ohio, has said he is personally planning a voyage to the shipwreck in a two-person submersible in 2026. Meanwhile, Australian billionaire Clive Palmer has promised to recreate the famous ship at an estimated cost of £1 billion. 'Titanic II', to be ready by 2027, will closely mimic the original ship's specifications, while including modern 21st navigation and safety systems.
See inside the Titanic like NEVER before: Video reveals a cross section of the doomed liner in its former glory before it sank in 1912 - as a billionaire tries to recreate it It's the most famous ship in history, sank by an iceberg on its first and only voyage across the ocean. But the scale and the glory of RMS Titanic can be admired once more, thanks to a detailed digital cross section of the stunning luxury liner. Posted to YouTube by US animator Jared Owen, it shows Titanic from every angle, exactly as it appeared just before it set sail from Southampton 112 years ago.
Owen - who has a YouTube channel of 3D animations showing how things work - describes the Titanic as 'still the most famous ship in history'. 'When they finished building the Titanic, it was the largest ship in the world,' he says in the video. 'The ship was designed and built over 100 years ago – that means no computers, no 3D design software.
'This was all designed by hand; to me that's incredible engineering and craftmanship.' Read more Georgia BBC Share or comment on this article: The haunting return to the Titanic: Expedition to the wreck sets sail just one year after the OceanGate tragedy which saw five killed while trying to visit the lost ship - as experts reassure 'we aren't using manned submersibles this time around' e-mail Add comment.
