First venture to the ship in 15 years finds that features have decayed completely

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The first dive to the Titanic in nearly 15 years has revealed “shocking” deterioration in the state of the wreck.

An international team of explorers made five dives with manned submersibles in early August to survey and photograph the ship, which lies at a depth of 3,800 metres in the North Atlantic. The once opulent vessel is rapidly being destroyed by metal-eating bacteria, salt corrosion and deep ocean currents.

Parks Stephenson, a Titanic historian on the expedition, said that some features of the captain’s quarters have completely decayed.

“The captain’s bath tub is a favourite image among the Titanic enthusiasts, and that’s now gone,” he said. “That whole deck … on that side is collapsing taking with it the staterooms.”

Eerie footage from the expedition shows the ship’s bow covered in rusticles, formation similar to icicles that form as bacteria slowly consume the metal. Lori Johnson, an expedition scientist, said: “The … wreck is going to continue to deteriorate over time, it’s a natural process.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Rusticles hang from the bow of the Titanic Photograph: © Atlantic Productions

The RMS Titanic has been on the ocean floor since 1912 after colliding with an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York.

More than 1,500 people died when the ship, which was carrying 2,224 passengers and crew, sank under the command of Captain Edward Smith, who went down with the ship. The ship was the largest afloat at the time and was billed as unsinkable. It now lies in two main pieces about 600 metres apart.

While on the site, the expedition team laid a wreath and held a short ceremony in memory of those who lost their lives.

Navigating around the wreck was challenging due to bad weather and strong currents, the team said.

The lack of light and intense pressure at a depth of nearly 4km (2.5 miles) make the Titanic’s environment inhospitable to most life, but previous expeditions revealed that iron-eating microbes have colonised the ship, slowly turning its 50,000 tonnes of iron into rusticles, which eventually dissolve into a fine powder and are carried away on ocean currents. One expedition concluded that there would be nothing left of the ship by 2030.

Opening of the Titanic inquiry - archive, 3 May 1912 Read more

The team said they were surprised how quickly the vessel was deteriorating. “Titanic is returning to nature,” Stephenson told the BBC.

Victor Vescovo, the CEO of Caladan Oceanic, the private company behind the expedition, said: “It’s a big wreck, I wasn’t quite prepared for how large it was. It was extraordinary to see it all, and the most amazing moment came when I was going along the side of the Titanic and the bright lights of the submersible reflected off a portal and came right back. It was like the ship was winking at me. It was amazing.”

The Titanic was long assumed to have sunk in one piece, but when the wreck was discovered in 1985 it was found to have broken up before reaching the ocean floor.

The latest expedition captured footage using specially adapted cameras that allow computerised 3D models of the wreck to be constructed using virtual reality technology. The scientists will publish their material alongside a documentary film by Atlantic Productions.