Expeditions to recover Titanic artifacts have been a collaborative effort between RMS Titanic, Inc.; The French Oceanographic Institute; and the Moscow-based P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology. These expeditions have been conducted at the Titanic's wreck site, located 963 miles northeast of New York and 453 miles southeast of the Newfoundland coastline, during the summers of 1987, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2000, and 2004.
Nautile and MIR submersibles are used for the recovery; these machines are equipped with mechanical arms capable of scooping, grasping, and recovering the artifacts, which are then either collected in sampling baskets, or placed in lifting baskets. The crew compartment of each submersible accommodates three people - a pilot, a co-pilot, and an observer - who each have a one-foot-thick plastic porthole between themselves and the depths. Both submersibles have the capabilities of operating and deploying a Remote-Controlled Vehicle of a 110-foot tether which is then flown inside the wreck to record images. It takes over two and a half hours to reach the Titanic wreck site. Each dive lasts about twelve to fifteen hours with an additional two hours to ascend to the surface.
Each recovered artifact must then undergo conservation. Conservators follow a strict and careful process to remove rust and salt deposits from each one.
The conservation treatment begins once the artifact is exposed to the air, undergoing an immediate stabilization process. Once removed from the water, the artifact is cleaned with a soft brush and placed in a foam-lined tube of water. It then goes to the conservation laboratory, where contaminating surface salts are bleached out. Metal objects are placed in a desalination bath and undergo the first steps of electrolysis, a process that removes negative ions and salt from the artifact. Electrolysis is now being used to remove salts from paper, leather, and wood as well. These materials also receive treatments of chemical agents and fungicides that remove rust and fungus from them.
Artifacts made of wood and leather then begin to dry and receive injections of a water-soluble wax which fills artifact capillaries previously filled by water and debris. Artifacts made of paper are freeze-dried to remove all the water, then treated to protect against mold. At this point conservation for exhibition is complete. All recovered artifacts are carefully maintained in an environment of controlled temperature and humidity, as well as no sunlight.
Kapcsolat: titanickiallitas@rtlklub.hu