He "largest underwater scanning project in history" offers an unprecedented view of the Titanic

() — The mysterious 1912 sinking of the luxury passenger liner Titanic has long been a source of fascination for many.

Historians now believe that a new underwater exploration project may answer some of the unanswered questions about the tragedy that killed more than 1,500 people.

A team of scientists used underwater mapping to create “for the first time an exact ‘digital twin’ of the wreckage of the Titanic,” according to a press release released Wednesday by underwater research company Magellan and film production company Atlantic Productions.

By carrying out the “largest underwater scanning project in history”, scientists were able to “unveil details of the tragedy and discover fascinating information about what really happened to the crew and passengers on that fateful night” of April 14, 1912, according to the press release.

According to the statement, in the summer of 2022 a specialized ship stationed 700 kilometers off the coast of Canada carried out scans of the wreck. Strict protocols prohibited team members from touching or disturbing the wreck, which the researchers stressed was treated with the “greatest of respect.”

Every millimeter of its nearly three-mile-long debris field was mapped in painstaking detail, the statement said. The final digital replica managed to capture the entirety of the wreck, including the bow and stern sections, which had separated when it sank in 1912.

According to Parks Stephenson, an expert on the Titanic, the data could be used to examine the true mechanics of the tragedy. Credit: Atlantic Productions/Magellan

Parks Stephenson, an expert who has been studying the Titanic for 20 years, described the project as “revolutionary” which has managed to unearth “details never seen before”.

“We have real data that engineers can take to examine the true mechanics behind rupture and sinking and thus get even closer to the real story of the Titanic disaster,” Stephenson said.

An example of this is found on the propeller, where the serial number can be seen for the first time in decades.

Some 715,000 images and 16 terabytes of data were collected during the expedition, which Magellan estimates is “approximately ten times larger than any underwater 3D model that has been attempted before,” said Richard Parkinson, Magellan’s CEO.

Parkinson described the mission as “challenging”, referring to the team’s struggle against “the elements, bad weather and technical challenges”.

While previous images of the vessel were limited by low light level and poor light quality at 12,500 feet (3.8 km) underwater, the new mapping technique has “effectively removed water and left light to get in,” according to the news release.

According to 3D capture specialist Gerhard Seiffert, the “highly accurate photorealistic 3D model” has allowed people to get up close and look at the entire wreck “for the first time”.

“This is the Titanic as no one has seen it before,” Seiffert added.

According to Stephenson, this mapping will herald the “beginning of a new chapter” for Titanic research and exploration.