Titanic, Still Wrecked

A woman takes a picture at a replica of the shipwreck Image:Getty

A big new expedition to the site of the Titanic revealed that—you may want to sit down—the Titanic is falling apart.

USA today reported that Triton Submarines just made five trips to the Titanic’s crash site to see how fast the ship is deteriorating, shooting video that will be used in a documentary for National Geographic. And I’m sorry to say that you would most likely no longer recognize the boat from the footage featured in the iconic 1997 James Cameron feature film:

“The most shocking area of deterioration was the starboard side of the officers’ quarters, where the captain’s quarters were,” said Titanic historian Parks Stephenson. “Captain’s bath tub is a favourite image among the Titanic enthusiasts, and that’s now gone. That whole deck hole on that side is collapsing taking with it the state rooms, and the deterioration is going to continue advancing.”

Of course it is the furtherest thing from surprising that history’s most famous shipwreck is still a shipwreck. But there’s something almost soothing about the image of the Titanic, a great hulking monument to hubris and symbol of corporate malfeasance, slowly melting back into the ocean. The expedition’s scientist, Lori Johnson, told USA Today:

“The future of the wreck is going to continue to deteriorate over time, it’s a natural process,” said expedition scientist Lori Johnson. “These are natural types of bacteria, so the reason that the deterioration process ends up being quite a bit faster, is a group of bacteria, a community working symbiotically to eat, if you will the iron and the sulphur.”