Experts Say Titanic Wreckage Disintegrating Rapidly

Yahoo News ^ | 8/13/03 | Bruce Kamich - Reuters

[NormsRevenge]

NEW YORK (Reuters) -

The Titanic, sunk by an iceberg on a calm April night, is being quickly claimed by those icy waters as man and nature cause rapid disintegration some 18 years after the wreck's discovery off the coast of Canada.

A team of researchers, scientists and explorers returned last month from a trip aboard the world's largest research vessel, the Akademik Mstislav Keldysh from Russia, to the site of the Titanic, the world's most famous shipwreck discovered in 1985 in international waters off the Newfoundland coast.

"On board the Keldysh were people who had not been down since 1999 and they saw marked damage. In reviewing pictures from 1986, I see a progressive deterioration in the bow and the infrastructure is collapsing," said diver David Bright.

The Titanic, a massive liner carrying everyone from wealthy and elite clientele to immigrants hoping for a new life, hit an iceberg on April 14, 1912, on its maiden voyage to New York City from Southampton, England, and sank. More than 1,500 people died in a disaster that has fascinated scientists and history buffs and inspired a hit movie.

But researchers say the Titanic's wreckage, nearly 2 1/2 miles under the ocean surface, is falling apart and the rate of decay is accelerating. Alfred McLaren, a scientist who was part of the July expedition, was shocked by its condition.

"I would be very surprised if there was much standing two decades from now. I expected this ... but not so quickly," said McLaren.

Some experts believe that salvage operations and numerous visits by treasure hunters and tourists have hastened the decomposition naturally caused by rust, saltwater and other natural factors.

McLaren contends that over-fishing on the nearby Grand Banks has depleted fish stocks that would normally consume tiny organic matter that is now concentrated in the waters around the Titanic and hastening its breakdown.

Researchers said the ship's mast, boat deck and the officer cabins have all collapsed in the last couple of years.

Edward Kamuda, president of the Titanic Historical Society in Massachusetts, said that the U.S. government is exploring ways of preserving the wreckage along with governments of other North Atlantic countries.

RUSTICLES, MICROBES, WORMS AND MAN

"One part of the Titanic adventure is how it is holding up and aging. We are looking at the destruction of some of the structural integrity due to microbes and the formation of what is known as rusticles," said Bright.

Rusticles are the remanent of bacteria eating through the metal and the offshoot of the digestion process. Bright and others have been studying the increased density and size of the rusticles on the Titanic.

Bright said currents, which naturally vary but also are affected by human visits to the site, and Torado worms are also destroying the Titanic. "There are worms down there eating the teak decking. It looks like the teak, but actually all that there is left is the glue that held the teak together," said Bright.

Bright, a technical consultant on 24 documentaries on famous shipwrecks, went down to the wreck site in a submersible craft to take extensive photographs so the state of the wreckage could be assessed.

"We don't have that much data, but looking at the biological and photometric information, the Titanic is deteriorating at an accelerated rate. There is an end point when the Titanic will merge with the sea," he said.

[NormsRevenge]

A recently auctioned photo shows what is believed to be the last known image of the Titanic before it sank in the north Atlantic after striking an iceberg on April 12, 1912. The Titanic is being quickly claimed by those icy waters as man and nature cause rapid disintegration some 18 years after the wreck's discovery off the coast of Canada. A team of researchers, scientists and explorers returned from a July 2003 trip to the wreck saying Titanic's wreckage, nearly 2 1/2 miles under the ocean surface, is falling apart and the rate of decay is accelerating. (Christie's/Reuters)

[Old Sarge]

There is an end point when the Titanic will merge with the sea

I'd say that she did a pretty good job of that back in 1912....

[Newbomb Turk]

Overfishing is kind of a stretch isin't it ?

[VOA]

Experts Say Titanic Wreckage Disintegrating Rapidly

I'm sure that somehow the Republicans and Global Warming are to blame.

Even if it was a freakin' iceberg that was the proximate cause of Titanic's demise.

[LouD]

Does this guy belong to PETA?

You don't have to be an animal rights whacko to realize that the Grand Banks have been over-fished by factory trawlers - Just talk to any commercial fisherman anywhere in New England.

[Bluntpoint]

Fishing does not have to be reduced. More time needs to be devoted to blowing up icebergs.

[NonZeroSum]

No, he's just aware of the reality. There are no property rights over fisheries, so they're being overfished. The cod stocks are severely depleted from what they were centuries ago.

[US_MilitaryRules]

What a Joke. Like its supposed to stay intact forever? Its called salt water. The most unrelenting destuctive substance in the world. DUH

[Mfkmmof4]

Was this espected to stay perfect for the rest of history?

[RLK]

Overfishing is kind of a stretch isin't it ?

----------------------

You don't fish two and one-half miles deep.

[Let's Roll]

damn global warming

[Bluntpoint]

Are we talking walleye fishing or smallmouth?

[Bogey78O]

The Titanic is a graveyard. Decaying is what it's supposed to do.

[Bluntpoint]

"Decaying is what it's supposed to do. "

Unless it is the USS Joan Rivers.

[Lockbar]

Evil white man scientists and tourists are destroying it just by looking at it! Its all our fault!

[jrushing]

Edward Kamuda, president of the Titanic Historical Society in Massachusetts, said that the U.S. government is exploring ways of preserving the wreckage along with governments of other North Atlantic countries.

preserving the wreckage????---with---

Rust-o-leum?

[Bluntpoint]

I see Maaco sponsoring the next Titanic exhibition.

[arete]

Ooops, thought this thread was about the economy.

Richard W.

[muir_redwoods]

Umm, it sank like a hundred years ago. I think the insurance company pretty much wrote it off already.