Full-sized scans reveal Titanic wreck as never seen before

A team of scientists have completed the first-ever life-size scan of the Titanic to create an exact digital replica of the famous vessel showing it in a light never seen before.

The fascinating 3D view of the entire 882-foot-long ship offers a unique insight into what happened on that fateful night on April 15, 1912 when the Titanic sank after striking an iceberg.

Now lying 12,500ft below the North Atlantic, getting to the wreck is a challenging mission in itself and was undertaken by deep sea mapping specialists Magellan Ltd.

The firm carried out the unique scan over six weeks in summer 2022 working with Atlantic Productions, who are making a documentary about the project.

Two submersibles, named Romeo and Juliet, spent hours mapping the entire three-mile debris field which sits around 430 miles off the coast of Canada.

In accordance with tight regulations in place the wreck was not touched or disturbed, and the entire site treated with the utmost of respect, which included a flower laying ceremony in memory of more than 1,500 people who lost their lives.

The result of the operation has produced more than 16 terabytes of data as well as over 715,000 still images.

Previous optical images of the ship have been limited by the low light levels and the often poor water quality 12,500 feet beneath the surface but the Magellan mapping technique has produced a whole new level of clarity.

It has effectively taken away the water and let in the light. The model is allowing the wreck to be seen in extraordinary detail – for example, the serial number can be seen on the propeller.

Titanic Expert Parks Stephenson said: “I have been studying Titanic for 20 years, but this is a true gamechanger. What we are seeing for the first time is an accurate and true depiction of the entire wreck and debris site.

“I’m seeing details that none of us have ever seen before and this allows me to build upon everything that we have learned to date and see the wreck in a new light.

“We’ve got actual data that engineers can take to examine the true mechanics behind the breakup and the sinking and thereby get even closer to the true story of Titanic disaster.

“For the next generation of Titanic exploration, research and analysis, this is the beginning of a new chapter.”

Richard Parkinson, Magellan Founder & CEO, said the data produced a 3D model around 10 times larger than anything attempted before.

He said: “This fly by project was borne out the need prove Magellan’s mapping and precision 3D modelling capability, and provide a reference for internal long term works in the SW Pacific over sites of similar scale.

“But the results are astonishing, over the course of the Titanic project the volume of data that we acquired was enormous – around 7150,000 images and some 16 terabytes of data

“We believe that this data is approximately ten times larger than any underwater 3D model that’s ever been attempted before.

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“This was a challenging mission. In the middle of the Atlantic we had to fight the elements, bad weather, and technical challenges to carry out this unprecedent mapping and digitalisation operation of the Titanic.

“I am proud for my teams capability, and hard gained experience and innovations made over the past years in continues operations in >5,000m of water. We are looking forward to sharing our Digital Twin of one of the most famous yet inaccessible man-made objects.”

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