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Rare footage of ‘Titanic’ wreckage in Atlantic ocean released
The unveiling of the footage has been timed with the re-release of director James Cameron's 1997 film ‘Titanic’ on its 25th anniversary. The film received 11 Academy Awards, including best picture.
A rare video of the wreckage of the ‘Titanic’, a huge ocean liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in 1912 was released by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) on Wednesday. The video shows the remains of this British passenger liner lying on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 2 miles (3 km) below the ocean's surface. It was reportedly shot in 1986, just months after the wreckage was discovered and the majority of it had not previously been made public. On September 1, 1985, the WHOI team, in collaboration with the French National Institute of Oceanography, discovered the ship's final resting place in 12,400 feet (3,780 metres) of water using a towed underwater camera.
The unveiling of the footage has been timed with the re-release of director James Cameron's 1997 film ‘Titanic’ on its 25th anniversary. The film received 11 Academy Awards, including best picture.
Since the Titanic's discovery, footage of the wreckage has been shown in several documentaries. Some brief clips from the original dives have aired, but this new release is an 80-minute video of uncut footage that was on WHOI's YouTube channel. The video shows the liner's bow and railings along one of its decks, ans also other aspects of the famous passenger ship.
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According to Sky News, oceanographer Robert Ballard saw a "giant wall of riveted steel that rose over 100 and some feet above us" when descending 2.5 miles under the sea. “It was quite haunting,” he said. Ballard further said that there was no human flesh or bones left, but he did see shoes, including a footwear which appeared to be of a mother and a baby. "After the Titanic sank, those that went into the water that didn't have life jackets died of hypothermia," the diver stated.
The Titanic was the largest ocean liner in service at the time, and it was thought to be nearly impregnable when it was built. On April 14, 1912, it collided with an iceberg in the Atlantic on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York. More than 1,500 people were killed in the sinking, which shocked the world and sparked outrage over the lack of lifeboats on board.
(With inputs from agencies)
