It’s been nearly 111 years since the RMS Titanic sank on that fateful night in the North Atlantic Ocean. Caught between horror and intrigue, opulence and anguish, the story of the ship has fascinated scholars, moviegoers and history buffs since. To coincide with the 25th Anniversary of the Academy Award-winning film Titanic in 1997, never-before-seen footage has been released documenting one of the first dives to the ship wreckage in 1986.
Conducted by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in partnership with France’s Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea, the grainy 81-minute video peruses two miles below sea level documenting where the ruins of the Titanic will hauntingly rest until it slowly deteriorates with time.
The video was shot just nine months after the ocean liner’s wreckage was first discovered in September of 1985. The mission was largely successful due to WHOI’s innovative camera sled technology, Argo, a three-person submersible vessel, Alvin, along with a remote mechanism entitled Jason Jr.
“Alvin brought scientists down 12,500 feet to the Titanic. Operating from Alvin, we used the Jason Jr. robot to penetrate Titanic and transmit images of the ship’s interior, while the people remained safely outside the wreckage,” said WHOI engineer Dana Yoerger, in a past interview. “For WHOI and the entire ocean research community, these advances provided an important foundation for modern deep-sea exploration technology,” Yoerger added.
Watch the full video in the gallery above.
In case you missed it, Hypeart and THE SHOPHOUSE announce Global Citizens – Asia group exhibition.
