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A bronze statue from the Titanic, believed to have been lost for good, was found in a recent expedition down to the shipwreck.
The trip took place this year but RMS Titanic, the company which holds legal rights to the ship and is the only company that can recover artifacts, did not say when the expedition occurred.
It is the first dive to the Titanic wreck since the implosion of the experimental Titan submersible in June 2023. The US Coast Guard continues to investigate the cause of the disaster involving the OceanGate vessel which killed five people. Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a passenger aboard the Titan when it was destroyed, had served as the underwater research director for RMS Titanic.
RMS Titanic’s research team located a miniature replica of the “Diana of Versailles” statue that stood on the ship’s first-class lounge fireplace mantle which was last seen in 1986. The original artwork, a lost Greek bronze statue, is believed to have been sculpted in 325BC.
The company says it now has a “clear, updated image” of the artwork.
The company also discovered a significant section of the railing surrounding the bow’s forecastle deck had fallen from the port side prow. The railing was last seen in 2022.
“The findings showcase a bittersweet mix of preservation and loss,” the company said in a statement.
“The discovery of the statue of Diana was an exciting moment. But we are saddened by the loss of the iconic Bow railing and other evidence of decay which has only strengthened our commitment to preserving Titanic’s legacy.”
The railing is one of the most well known parts of the ship, the company said. The expedition team spent 20 days at the site and captured more than two million images. The team is now processing the data so findings can be shared with the public and scientific communities.
Nine expeditions have been conducted to the Titanic. In seven of those, about 5,500 artifacts were recovered.
The Titanic sunk in 1912 after the ship hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean. It had been heading from Southampton, England to New York City.
The Coast Guard’s investigation in the Titan sub disaster will be discussed during a public hearing later this month
