Titanic Find 'Another Reminder of the Deterioration'

When you think about the wreck of the Titanic, it's hard not to think about the ship's bow. It's one of the most recognizable features of the sunken ship's exterior, and one that inspired an iconic cinematic moment. The bow itself is "iconic," according to Tomasina Ray, director of collections at RMS Titanic Inc., which just wrapped up its first expedition of the wreck in the depths of the North Atlantic since 2010. But that image you hold in your head? "It doesn't look like that anymore," Ray tells the BBC, reporting that part of the railing that spanned the bow's forecastle deck has fallen, leaving a 15-foot gap.

The railing had remained in place during a 2022 expedition, "though it was starting to buckle," per the BBC. "At some point the metal gave way and it fell away," says Ray. RMS Titanic Inc. notes the section of railing was found intact "lying on the seafloor directly below," per the Evening Standard. Though to some it may seem an upsetting discovery, "it's just another reminder of the deterioration that's happening every day," says Ray, per the BBC. "People ask all the time: 'How long is Titanic going to be there?' We just don't know." The metal structure of the ship is also suffering as microbes feed off its iron, according to footage captured over July and August.

Two remotely operated vehicles captured more than 24 hours of footage and more than 2 million images of the ship's bow, stern, and debris field, the BBC reports. In a first, RMS Titanic Inc. recorded the location of a bronze statue called Diana of Versailles lying face up in the debris field. The 2-foot-tall statue of the Roman goddess once sat on the fireplace mantel in the first-class lounge, per the Evening Standard. It was photographed by Robert Ballard in 1986, a year after his discovery of the wreck, but its location was unknown. "To rediscover [it] this year was momentous," says Titanic researcher James Penca, per the BBC. A digital 3D scan of the wreck site and more from the expedition will be revealed in the coming months. (More Titanic stories.)