RMS Titanic, Inc., as salvor-in-possession of the shipwreck, believes that the multiple values of the Ship and its stature as a social-cultural icon demand a respectful stewardship and the perspectives of many experts in scientific interpretation.

RMS Titanic, Inc. is in the best position to provide for archaeological survey and scientific interpretation as it possesses the largest collection of data, images, and cultural materials associated with the Ship. Further, the Company has committed the operational and financial resources necessary to conduct research and educational activities. To this end the Company has developed a partnership with the Center for Maritime and Underwater Resource Management (CMURM), a nonprofit corporation, for services in underwater archaeology, applied scientific research, and cultural resource management.  For further information on CMURM please visit www.cmurm.org.

In addition, the Company has an exhibition agreement with Maryland Science Center to present Titanic Science: The Real Artifacts, The True Stories, which will be exhibited in 15 science museums throughout the United States. Titanic Science leads the visitor through a discovery of the science of the sinking including the sinking timeline, hull stress and breakup, the sinking descent, the question of whether the steel and rivets were defective, and much more.

On the following web pages, Titanic scientific research projects are organized by year of expedition to the wreck site.  The following information is provided for each project: title of research, name(s) of investigators, description of research, future research interests, and sources of further information.  RMS Titanic, Inc. has provided either funding, in-kind contributions, or technical assistance to all of these projects, some of which are summarized below:

To determine how fast the Ship is corroding on the seabed, Canadian microbiologist Roy Cullimore conducted investigations into the elaborate colonies of iron-consuming microorganisms called "rusticles" (shown above) that cover nearly every surface of the hull. Cullimore concluded that as much as 20 percent of the bow has already been consumed by these microbes.  As the Ship begins to lose iron, Cullimore predicts it will eventually collapse on the ocean floor.

To understand how and why the Ship broke in two pieces on its way to the bottom, forensic engineers constructed a virtual Titanic through computer modeling.  The engineers concluded that the Ship began bending on the surface as the stresses on her midsection increased, causing steel plates in the keel to compress and buckle.  As her bow pulled down, her stern rose 25 stories into the air, resulting in stresses on the deck of 35,000 pounds per square inch--pressures so enormous the Ship broke apart.

In addition, using new sonar technology employed by geologists for seismic profiling, an expedition team was able for the first time to image the iceberg damage hidden by the mud that conceals the forward 20 foot section of the bow.  The imaging revealed that the iceberg damage was not a huge, 300 foot gash as had long been assumed; but instead, a series of six thin slits totaling no more than 12 square feet.