Back to the Titanic (2020) - full transcript

Narrator: Titanic, the

world's most famous ship.

Sunk over 100 years ago

and rediscovered in 1985.

She fascinates like no other wreck

and still has secrets to reveal.

Parks: There's sometimes about

this story that grips people.

Everybody finds something

in this disaster,

it's so varied and so

all encompassing.

Narrator: It's nearly 15 years since

anyone dived down to see titanic.

The world is anxious to know

what's happened to her.

Victor: There could be a couple

of major portions of the titanic

that might have collapsed.

Narrator: Now, a new expedition

is heading for the wreck site.

Stuart: Okay, good to go.

Radio: Good to go.

Narrator: World leading experts armed

with state of the art technology.

Kelvin: We'll send this

bad boy to the bottom.

Narrator: It's a race against

time to answer questions.

Patrick: Okay, tom

last check.

Radio: Roger that.

Narrator: And preserve titanic

for future generations.

Stuart: Two minutes.

Radio: Two minutes.

Narrator: Before

it's too late.

Victor: Let's go

back to titanic.

Radio: Prepare to dive.

Prepare to dive.

Radio: Better draw up

all stations bridge.

Stuart: Eta over the wreck is

approximately ten minutes from now.

Narrator: The team is arriving

at the titanic wreck site.

Narrator: The ship lies three miles down in

the icy depths of the north atlantic ocean.

Rob: Okay so

welcome everyone.

We wanted to meet this

afternoon to go over

the dive plans for the

next two days,

so you have two pieces

of paper.

Narrator: The team gathers

to go over their mission.

A plan to carry out a series of dives

to titanic over the coming week.

Victor: The first thing I'm gonna do

when I get down to the bottom is,

as I mentioned, I'm gonna

just go thrusters off

and I'm gonna see

what the drift is.

Narrator: Victor vescovo has

put this expedition together.

Victor: There could be a couple

of major portions of titanic

that might have collapsed.

Most people are interested in the bow,

because the bow is still quite discernible

as the bow of the titanic

and I am hopeful

that it hasn't significantly

collapsed, which would be unfortunate.

Narrator: Nobody has dived down

to titanic in nearly 15 years.

So victor's major concern is what may have

happened since she was last examined.

Parks: From the first time this wreck

was seen in 1985 with each expedition,

we've observed the

condition of the wreck.

Narrator: Victor has gathered

world leading experts,

to ensure this mission

is a success,

including titanic specialist,

parks stephenson.

Parks: I've always seen

the wreck as truly

the last surviving witness

to the disaster,

almost like a crime scene.

Lori: Well, that

one will be fine.

I'm just gonna-I have to get dimensions

of the first platform that we have,

but I'm pretty sure that it

won't fit in there. Crew: Yeah.

Narrator: Microbial ecologist lori johnston

is another key member of the team.

She's responsible for collecting

important data on the wreck's condition.

Lori: From '98, I was able to dive

on titanic six different times.

The last time I personally

saw it was 2005.

So it'll be very interesting to

see the amount of deterioration.

Crew: Okay, roger that, can

you confirm the connectors?

(inaudible radio)

victor: This is the deep submergence

vehicle. The limiting factor.

It's the deepest diving

submersible in the whole world

and she is an absolute

wonderful sub and a beast.

She is so tough.

Narrator: The limiting factor was specially

designed by the team for missions like this.

Patrick: Okay, tom, last check,

we're gonna just have tim,

or maybe you can just

secure your own hatch.

Radio: Roger that.

Securing hatch.

Narrator: When victor isn't piloting

the sub, patrick lahey will be.

Patrick: Okay, tim. First thing is the

pressure hull which is made of titanium.

Hull's about 90 mm thick, which is

three and a half inches in thickness

and it has three view ports.

Two that are on the top

looking out through the port

and starboard sides and

then one lower view port

that gives you a great view of

the areas on the sea floor.

Crew: Good.

Radio: Turning starboard.

Kelvin: I mean everything

is so tight, you know,

everything is in

tight corners.

Narrator: The team's fitting the sub

with a super high resolution 4k camera.

It's been specially commissioned

for this mission to film the wreck

in the best

definition possible.

It's big, but delicate.

Kelvin: Having this camera here means that

we're gonna have to be very very careful.

It's gonna make it a lot more

difficult for the launch and recovery

and we're gonna have to be

really really careful.

Really careful.

Rob: So the hazards are, you

know, we are going deep,

and the fact that we're diving

around a human made object,

we're around a wreck structure

with potentially strong current.

This wreck has been down there for 107

years, so it's inherently unstable

and she lies across the current which

is running up to two knots at a time.

Patrick: Diving around a wreck presents

a unique set of risks and concerns.

The primary one being

entanglement, you know,

a wreck can have

things like ropes

and obstructions and things of that nature,

that present a hazard to the craft.

Victor: The idea is to go here and then

we'll come up here and pretty much, I mean,

everyone has told me not to get too

close and to be extremely careful,

because there are

still wires.

Narrator: The success of

the first dive is vital.

It will allow the team

to plot additional dives.

Failure and the expedition

could end abruptly.

Rob: Cool. If no one's

got any questions,

then our next gig is 6:45 up on

the foredeck tomorrow morning.

Narrator: Preparation is over.

Tomorrow, the team will attempt

to dive to the most

famous ship in history.

Stuart: Weather conditions now are worse

than they were on the forecast yesterday.

Narrator: The first dive is due to

be launching in less than an hour.

But conditions

aren't looking good.

The crew's having

to secure equipment.

Stuart: So, the biggest waves you can see

coming through now are probably four,

four and a half meters

which is pretty much double

the maximum limit to

operate the sub.

(dramatic music)

victor: So, you called it.

Stuart: It's not a nice decision to

make and no one wants to make it,

but it's the one that needs to be made so.

Victor: Yeah, I agree.

Do the people

downstairs know?

Narrator: The first

launch is aborted.

If the bad weather doesn't pass soon,

the entire mission will be in jeopardy.

Victor: Let's go down in mission control,

just to announce it to everybody.

Stuart: Okay, good to go.

Radio: Good to go.

Narrator: Next morning, there's

a break in the weather.

Radio: Setting five minutes.

Stuart: Five

minutes, okey doke.

(music)

(radio chatter)

narrator: The dive is on.

Kelvin: We're going

to the titanic.

Weather's not bad.

It was rougher last night, I thought it

was gonna be kind of rough this morning,

but it's laid down a bit, so I'm comfortable

with this, we can launch in this.

We'll send this bad

boy to the bottom.

Narrator: This will be the first

ever solo dive to titanic.

Stuart: Two minutes.

Radio: Two minutes.

(music)

male: Good luck, victor.

Say hello to the old girl.

Victor: I will. Let's

go back to titanic.

(music)

radio: You're clear to

dive, clear to dive.

Victor: Roger that,

lf is clear to dive,

I've got a green board,

pumps are now in.

Narrator: It will take victor one and a

half hours to reach titanic's depth.

Parks: As you drop,

light starts to fade,

hazy greenish at first and

then gives way to black,

black, black, until

it's pure black.

There's nothing

really much to see.

So you descend

into blackness.

Narrator: The wreck is nearly three

miles down where extreme water pressure

will push the sub and camera

technology to the very limit.

Victor: Surface lf, present

depth one one two zero

heading zero three seven

life support good.

Patrick: Roger lf, understand

your depth is one one two.

Narrator: 4k cameras have seldom filmed so

deep before and even if this one survives

the journey, what will

be left to film?

Victor: Surface lf present depth

three eight zero eight at bottom,

heading one eight zero.

Narrator: The first man dive in

nearly 15 years is underway,

to the world's most

famous ship, titanic.

Parks: If we arrive on site and the light

starts to reveal massive collapse,

either like I'm

predicting, or even worse,

I'm sure there's gonna be

an instance of regret.

Narrator: Titanic was the most

luxurious liner in the world.

When she set sail in April

1912, heading for new york,

over 2000 passengers

and crew were on board.

Four days into her maiden voyage,

she it an iceberg and sank.

Around 1500 people

lost their lives.

Parks: There's something about

this story that grips people.

The way the disaster played out, the

length of time that it played out,

allowing all these different human

dramas and different classes of people,

everybody finds something

in this disaster.

It's so varied and

so all-encompassing.

Victor: It looks like

the edge of something.

Just kind of keeps

pushing me.

Narrator: Where titanic rests

is incredibly dangerous.

Strong currents swirl around the

wreck, making it extremely difficult

for victor to reach

and film his target.

Victor: I'm hitting

a one eight zero.

I'm being very careful, I don't

wanna run into anything.

Where is it? I can't see it.

There doesn't appear

to be anything here.

I've a bad feeling

about this.

There we go.

There she is.

Oh, my gosh, I'm at the bow.

I'm at the bow of the titanic.

(music)

surface, lf has gone

to bow of titanic.

Patrick: Yeah.

Victor: Just seeing the wreck outside

the view port, wow, amazing.

Narrator: Victor can now begin

the team's next objective,

to film the wreck and collect

data, to assess its condition.

Victor: Coming up along

the side here,

I can see rust formations hanging

from the famous handrails and there,

you can see some of the

a deck square windows.

Narrator: Victor pilots the sub

along the ship's exterior.

Curtains of corrosion can be

seen enveloping port holes.

When titanic was first discovered in

1985, she was in remarkable condition

but her stern and bow were

located 600 metres apart,

having broken up on

their descent.

As victor heads past the

bow, towards the stern,

there's evidence of human

tragedy all around.

Victor: Wow, the sea floor it's littered

with debris from the ship breaking up,

as it descended through

the water column.

I can see tiles, some even intact

bottles, what looks to be crockery.

There also seems to even be a

perfectly preserved pair of trousers.

On approaching the stern, I've

got a big old sonar return.

I see you on the

sonar, girl.

Can you see this?

That's the stern.

Wow, just savaged.

Yeah, this is concerning,

there's jagged metal protruding

almost from all directions and

I can feel a strong current

pushing me towards

the wreckage sometimes.

Narrator: The dive has just

become much more dangerous.

Narrator: A deep sea sub is

investigating the wreck of titanic.

Victor: Wow, just savaged.

Narrator: At the stern, a powerful

channel of fast flowing water

now jeopardizes the

safety of the dive.

Victor: I can feel a strong current pushing

me towards the wreckage sometimes.

Narrator: After several hours

fighting dangerous conditions

victor decides it's time to

return to the surface.

Victor: Surface,

this is lf ascending.

Narrator: For the

safety of the mission.

Victor: I am exhausted.

(music)

victor: Hi.

(music) (laughs)

kelvin: Oh finally hey?

Victor: Done

bow and stern.

Kelvin: Good one. Good one.

Parks: This dive is completed,

the sub's pulled in,

but really my work

starts now.

All of the analysis work

that goes into the footage.

I've got to try and get that

done and get things identified,

so it's gonna be two

busy days for me.

Victor: In a way, it was the most

difficult dive I've ever done,

simply because of the scale and the

very strong currents and visibility.

So, it was very much diving into the unknown

and coming back with new information.

The condition of the

wreck and, you know,

what had happened in

the last ten years.

Narrator: The first dive

has been a great success,

it's revealed titanic is

continuing to decay,

but she's still in tact.

This new information is allowing the team

to begin the next phase of their mission.

A more detailed

forensic investigation.

Parks: Yeah, that's a deck promenade

and this is the b deck here,

c deck port holes here.

This is starboard side.

Oh, this is badly corroded up here,

look at that, oh, it's gone.

Victor: What's gone? Parks: Right,

look at a deck, right after

narrator: Titanic specialist,

parks, is studying the footage,

to assess the state

of the ship.

Victor: What collapsed? It's part

of the, parks: It's, the a deck.

Narrator: By comparing the footage with images

recorded after titanic was first found,

he can see the bow is still recognizable,

but the stern is showing greater break up.

Victor: The stern was absolutely

shattered on impact and so,

it is a mass of steel

and cables and fragments

and I don't think it's been properly

conveyed just how dangerous that area is

and, frankly, how

unrecognizable.

Narrator: Strong currents

swirling around and eroding metal

are partially responsible for

titanic's deterioration,

but experts think there is another reason

for the ship's uneven rate of decline.

Lori: Titanic is unique, in the fact

that it is dominated by bacteria.

Narrator: Microbial ecologist lori

johnston is one of the only people

in the world who can fully

understand what is happening.

On previous expeditions, lori

investigated an phenomenon only seen

on some of the deepest

wrecks in the world.

Titanic is teeming

with microscopic life.

Lori: Titanic obviously, had

bacteria when it went down

and they basically have

become the dominant organism.

Narrator: The bacteria thrive in areas

where metal is damaged like buckles

or fractures. It is here

that rusticles first form.

Lori: The term rusticle was sort of

coined when the titanic was found

and it looks like rust

coloured icicle.

They're very

sophisticated structures,

because they're made up of

microscopic organisms.

So when you put a rusticle

under the microscope,

the features in them

are extremely detailed.

Narrator: These organisms have adapted

to eat metal and their feed rate

looks set to intensify,

increasing the rate of decay.

Lori: The bacteria themselves

seem to be increasing,

simply because there's nothing

there that can out compete them,

and because there's so much steel there

and they're just in their glory,

taking out all of the

elements under the sea.

Narrator: This is a worrying

discovery, but there is one advantage,

the breakup allows the team to see

inside new areas of the wreck.

Elliot: I can show you how

I've put it together,

which is mainly using a process

called photogrammetry,

so we've basically reconstructed

the path of the submarine.

Parks: So, this is what victor was

looking at on his first dive.

The bow going down

the starboard side.

Ah, that's amazing.

Narrator: Creating this

scientifically accurate model

is one of the team's

core objectives.

It's allowing parks to view

titanic from all angles,

to see things in far

greater detail,

than what is possible from diving

or studying video footage.

Parks: Oh, okay rotate back around,

okay and then bring it up.

Okay, that's good, I mean,

oh, that is something else.

Narrator: Even this early in the process,

the model is allowing parks to investigate

stories from titanic in

unprecedented detail.

Parks: The way the 3d has rendered

here and has that corner, I mean,

it really feels

like the ship here.

Narrator: On the night titanic sank,

more than 2000 passengers were onboard.

The crew rushed towards

the lifeboats,

to be lowered into the water using

a small crane called the davit.

On the model parks is intrigued

by one davit, in particular.

Parks: Right in this very area, first

officer murdoch was desperately trying

to load the last lifeboat into the davit,

so that it could be launched properly.

You can see that this

davit is cranked in.

It's the only one on the wreck

that's like that. Elliot: Right.

Parks: That really supports

the account that murdoch

was trying to launch

the last lifeboat,

when he and his crew were

swept away by the water.

Narrator: The photogrammetry has provided

vital evidence of the davit's position,

proving that this lifeboat

was never launched.

Parks: I mean, I can almost

visualise the scene,

seeing it in this lighting

and at this angle. So,

that's pretty touching.

Narrator: There were just

20 lifeboats in total,

only enough for around

half the passengers.

There's another personal

story related to titanic

that has fascinated

parks for years.

It's connected to one of the

ship's most famous passengers,

benjamin guggenheim.

He was one of america's wealthiest

and most prominent businessmen,

who was said to have dressed up in his best

and prepared to go down like a gentleman.

This is what guggenheim's state

rooms would have looked like,

titanic's most opulent

living quarters.

Located on the port side at the point of

destruction, where the ship split in two.

The state rooms were torn off

and feel to the sea floor,

where they remain to

this day, undiscovered.

Now, using the sub, parks

is determined to find them.

Radio: The free boat is engaged, would

you like me to engage surfacing?

Narrator: The team is preparing

the sub for the next dive.

To locate the remains of

titanic's most opulent cabin,

where one of the ship's

most famous passengers,

benjamin guggenheim,

spent his final days.

Sindbad: I'm the only

member of my family,

going back to where my great

great grandfather last stood.

So, there is something quite powerful about

that, I guess, and kind of getting closer

to the rest of the family and

maybe paying one last homage.

Narrator: Sindbad is benjamin

guggenheim's great great grandson.

He's joined the expedition, to

discover more about the final hours

of his ill-fated relative.

Parks: Now, these are the decks,

they're laying on top of each other,

what you're seeing are the ribs that

support the underside of the decks

and then it appears to be

shell plating underneath.

Narrator: Previous expeditions

revealed an image that parks thinks

could be guggenheim's

missing state rooms.

He wants to dive down on the

wreck, to investigate further.

Victor: Well, parks is one of the world's

leading historians on the titanic

and he's the kind of individual that

can look at a piece of wreckage

and identify where it was on the

ship and why it's interesting.

Parks: Each piece, its position,

its condition, tells a story.

Narrator: Parks also wants to record

high resolution footage of some specific

features on the bow, to add

to the photogrammetry model.

Once again, victor

will pilot the sub.

Parks will join

him to observe.

Parks: I feel the need

to go down there myself,

owe it to those who

perished in the disaster,

to maybe step out of the

comfort zone a little bit,

take an acceptable amount of risk

and experience it for myself.

Narrator: The sub will dive to the

wreck site, travel over the bow,

then out across the debris field, searching

for the mysterious piece of metal.

Patrick: Here comes the water,

cap's on, are you ready?

Radio: Yeah, roger that,

my hatch is secure.

Patrick: Roger that,

hatch secure. Here we go.

Just gonna put a little

bit more on here.

Narrator: If parks's

theory is correct,

it'll be an incredible discovery

connecting a family across generations.

Patrick: Clear to go

ahead and start pumping.

There goes the swimmer.

Radio: Lf.

Victor: This is

the lf, go ahead.

Kelvin: You're clear

to circle.

Victor: Roger that, the swimmer

is clear, I have armed thrusters.

We're beginning to

pump in now.

Narrator: The sub

begins its long descent.

Benjamin guggenheim was born into a wealthy

mining family in philadelphia in 1865.

He was 47 years old, when

titanic sank leaving behind

a wife and three young

daughters.

Victor: Surface lf, depth three eight

zero five heading three one zero,

life support good,

wreck on sonar.

Patrick: Roger that lf, understand,

three eight zero five metres heading

three one zero degrees

with life support good

and wreck on sonar.

Congratulations.

Narrator: The sub has

reached the wreck site.

Victor: Ha, it's murky.

You can look down there and see pretty

well. Parks: I can see it, yeah.

Victor: Actually, the

visibility's better looking down.

Parks: It is. Victor:

There's the marconi room,

one of the windows, one of the skylights.

Parks: Lets see here.

Narrator: Before searching for the

remains of the guggenheim state rooms,

the team films additional footage of other

important features, for later analysis,

including the area around

the captain's quarters.

Parks: Okay, I can barely see it, I can

barely see it, yeah, it's devastated.

I see a glimpse of the tub.

Narrator: Next, the team turns their attention

to the search for guggenheim's state rooms.

The debris field is 15

square miles in size.

Finding a single piece of metal is like

trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Victor: Is this

the bigger piece?

Parks: No, it's not the bigger piece.

Victor: What is this?

Parks: I don't think

it's guggenheim either.

Narrator: Parks is searching for specific

structural features that coincide

with the state room's

location aboard the ship.

This is key to confirming the identify

of the mystery object in the image.

Victor: Getting close to something

up there on the left. 40 meters.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, eyes

out, eyes out, eyes out.

Parks: Okay.

Victor: This might be the guggenheim

piece, you see all that ribbing?

Parks: Yeah. This might

be the guggenheim piece.

Victor: I'm gonna

translate more.

Parks: Please translate

left, yes, please.

Yeah here we go,

this is it.

This is it, this is guggenheim's

state room, right here.

-Right along here.

Victor: Found it.

Parks: That's his

state room right there.

That's guggenheim.

Victor: Good job.

Teamwork.

Surface lf, present depth, three eight zero

two, life support good, at guggenheim.

Radio: Roger, lf,

at guggenheim.

Congratulations.

Urn off the flow.

Narrator: The search is over for the remains

of benjamin guggenheim's state rooms.

Sindbad: I can't

believe you found it.

Parks: The odds of this were astronomical,

but it just so happened in this case,

your great great grandfather's

state room was situated in an area

that had identifiable features,

yes, the odds were astronomical.

Sindbad: That chaos is

really what's for me,

really, the most traumatising,

I think, you know,

when you're there, when you see this and

everything, it's just very powerful.

Parks: One thing it does

show, that at the end,

it did not matter what class you

were from, they all died equally.

Sindbad: Exactly, yeah.

Absolutely.

Parks: In those rare instances where

we can provide identification

of a piece to a descendant

of someone who perished,

I think it's very much

appreciated.

Sindbad: We all like to remember those

like fairy tales of him dressed

in his best, as he sank, sipping

brandy and just going down heroically,

I guess, but, yeah,

what I'm seeing here,

like the crushed metal and

everything is just showing me

a very different reality.

Narrator: Finding guggenheim's

state rooms allows the team to add

another crucial part to

their photogrammetry model.

Elliot: And then we're

coming up now to the top.

Parks: Okay, there's the

overhang from a deck.

Narrator: Additional data from the most

recent dive has now been added to the model.

It's allowing parks to understand other

areas of titanic in far more detail.

Parks: It took us a

while to recognise this.

Narrator: Including the cabin

of captain edward john smith,

who famously went

down with his ship.

When titanic was

rediscovered in 1985,

the contents of captain smith's

bathroom were revealed to be largely

intact, including

his private bathtub.

It's a tiny, but very tangible detail

of the lives of individuals who lived

and worked aboard the ship.

So parks wants to

see how it's faring.

Parks: This entire overhead has now

collapsed, since we last saw it,

only a small sliver of the

captain's bath tub remains.

This collapse was exactly the kind of

failure that we were expecting to find

and I expect this kind of

collapse is gonna continue

in various areas around the

wreck, in the years to come.

Narrator: The captain's quarters

have lost their battle with decay.

Next, parks turns his attention

to another area of the ship,

that's of great interest,

the marconi room.

As the biggest and

best ship of her day,

titanic contained state

of the art technology,

including the famous

marconi radio transmitter.

The set aboard titanic was among

the first of its kind ever built.

It was housed in the marconi

room, located on the boat deck,

between the first

and second funnels.

The transmitter was used to receive warnings

of icebergs and send distress messages,

something ships hadn't been able to

do until the end of the 19th century.

Parks: My biggest fear is

my favourite part of wreck,

the marconi wireless

telegraph room,

is gone and any hope of recovering

that transmitting apparatus

and restoring it is no

longer a possibility.

Narrator: On a previous expedition,

parks saw the marconi room

and its contents were

in good condition

now he wants to view its

current state in detail,

as he couldn't see it clearly

during his dive with victor.

Parks: I wanna go in here, I wanna see

what that is, I wanna get in here.

I can actually see rusticles

hanging down inside,

so that indicates there's

a whole space in here.

Narrator: Parks is hoping the

photogrammetry will allow him

to see the marconi room

in far greater detail.

Parks: The area that I'm interested

in is right in this area right here.

Now, your data set

falls off here,

but these holes right here

are of special concern to me,

because this looks like the beginning

of,now, now, pull out a little bit.

Elliot: Sure.

Narrator: The three dimensional

photogrammetry is revealing

a new depression in the

roof of the marconi room.

Parks: It's gonna continue to fall

and next time we come out here,

there's gonna be a new

hole next to that one.

Oh, we are definitely in

a race against time here.

Narrator: An investigation into the condition

of titanic is revealing a mixed picture.

Some of the wreck's

features have deteriorated.

Parks: I see a glimpse of the tub, I can

barely see it and yeah, it's devastated.

Narrator: Whilst others

have barely changed.

Parks: Overall. The wreck seems to

be holding up surprisingly well.

There are some areas

of concern,

advanced deterioration and we're gonna

to be assessing those going forward,

to try and get better

predictions on how much longer

the wreck will be with us.

Rob: We wanted to take this

moment, to remember those

that have perished the

night that titanic sank.

Narrator: As the expedition

enters its final stages,

the team is honouring

titanic's victims.

Rob: And we'll take

a moment's silence.

Narrator: With the ceremony complete,

the team prepares for their next dive.

Rob: It's a good opportunity

to think about the site itself

and to start planning

the dive.

I wanted to go beyond the dive, to

talk about a science programme,

about the permanent

conditions.

Narrator: The dive will help the team

understand and predict titanic's future.

Rob: They've taken a number

of different types of metal

and then they've subjected them

to different kinds of activity.

Some of them have been subject to

torsion, some of them have been heat

treated with a welder,

some have been riveted.

So, they're trying to replicate

all the different kinds of metal

that you might find on a

ship and then subjecting it

to the sort of forces that a

ship in distress might suffer.

Narrator: The team wants to place the

data platform next to the wreck.

It's a non-invasive, but

scientific way to record decline.

The platform is made of

steel, just like titanic.

Lori: The bacteria will start

populating that steel source,

so then we can bring that up

after x number of years,

it's considered a long term

experiment, and analyse it,

to again correlate that back to the

deterioration rate of the wreck.

Victor: You can see the very obvious

manipulator arm, that's very powerful,

but it can function all the

way down to full ocean depth.

Narrator: The sub's

manipulator arm will be used

to place the steel platform

on the sea floor,

but doing this,

three miles down,

in the dark and with strong

currents, won't be easy.

Kelvin: It'll be a challenge, there's no doubt

about it, but I'm up for the challenge.

Victor: Good luck, guys.

Kelvin: Thanks, victor.

Narrator: Kelvin is going to be

operating the manipulator arm.

And for this dive, patrick

is piloting the sub.

Patrick: You got her?

Kelvin: Yep.

Bring this bad boy down.

Narrator: The sub will be supported

by a remotely controlled lander,

that will safely transport the

data platform to the sea floor.

Radio: You've got three swimmers

below, you can start to pump and dive.

Patrick: Roger that. Turning

pumps on now. Okay?

Kelvin: Yep.

Patrick: Okay.

Narrator: Having arrived at the wreck, the

team prepares to release the platform.

But, at this step just the simplest of

actions is fraught with difficulty.

Patrick: Looking good.

Narrator: The next task is to drop

the platform in a safe place,

as close to the wreck as possible,

so rusticles can latch on.

Kelvin: Yeah, so bring it

down to the ground here.

Patrick: Got close enough?

Looks pretty close.

Kelvin: Here, let me

get the arm going again.

Yeah, yeah, yep

(laughs)

narrator: When the platform is

retrieved in years to come,

on a new expedition,

the rusticles captured

will be vital in predicting

titanic's future.

The team's mission is complete

and the first manned dives

to titanic in nearly 15

years have come to an end.

(laughs)

patrick: Thanks very much,

frank, for getting us back.

(music)

narrator: The expedition has

led to the creation of the

the most accurate photogrammetry

model of the wreck ever built.

Titanic, as no one

has seen her before.

And now she's beginning a new

life as an artificial reef.

Home to an abundant and diverse

array of marine creatures.

Lori: Honestly, there's

more life on titanic now,

than there was when she was

floating on the surface.

Narrator: But, in time, as

titanic's decline continues,

she will become

unrecognisable.

Lori: There's lots of

varying opinions on titanic.

Is there any way that

we can preserve it?

But, I sometimes feel that people miss

the point of the recycling aspect.

This is a natural process.

It was built through iron ore and the earth

is reclaiming that iron ore from titanic.

Parks: It's a shipwreck

that's returning to nature,

but that doesn't mean that we're

done exploring titanic yet.

This deterioration has now

opened up new possibilities

to learn more

about the wreck.

We went down there to look,

to document, and to assess.

The results of this expedition

wildly exceeded our expectations.

(music)

captioned by subtitlepro llc