The Titanic’s wreckage has never been fully explored. In August OceanGate Expeditions completed six weeks of dives aboard Titan, the world’s only five-person, 13,123ft submersible. A team of renowned experts, researchers, and citizen scientists returned to St. John’s, Newfoundland with what they believe are the highest quality photographs and videos of the wreck of the Titanic ever acquired. The images show of parts of the wreck that may never have been captured before.
“It took six years to develop, and stress test the world’s most advanced five person submersible, Titan. We are proud to have engineered and deployed the first successful use of sensor-instrumented carbon fiber in a deep diving human occupied submersible,” said Stockton Rush, OceanGate Inc. co-founder and submersible pilot.
“The company plans annual expeditions to the Titanic and additional expeditions to a variety of sites such as hydrothermal vents, unique biological ecosystems, and shipwrecks from every era of history.”
Dr. Bridget Buxton, a marine archaeologist at the University of Rhode Island who has led expeditions all over the world, served as Chief Archaeologist for the expedition. She reported: “We have gathered thousands of new photographs and videos of considerable value that can be shared with other researchers. We have also drafted an ArcGIS map of the site on which we have overlaid the dive profiles. We will continue to add layers of data and imagery to this map each time Titan dives.”
Applications are now open for ‘citizen explorers’ to join expeditions to survey the wreck of the Titanic next summer. Given the massive scale of the wreck and the debris field, these missions will continue over the next several years to document the wreckage fully. Mission specialists are adventurers and citizen scientists who support the expedition through various sub-nautical and oceanographic roles. By receiving training and continued instruction, individuals participate in roles as active members of the crew.
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