First-Ever Digital Scan Of Titanic Reveals Never Before-Seen Views

For the first time, a full-sized digital scan of the Titanic has been made public, which could reveal new secrets about the ship that lies 12,500 feet down in the Atlantic. 

BBC News said the scan was conducted about a year ago by Magellan Ltd, a deep-sea mapping company, and Atlantic Productions, who are making a documentary about the Titanic. 

The vessel is split into two sections, the bow and the stern, separated by 2,600 feet and surrounded by a large debris field. 

Magellan and Atlantic Productions spent over 200 hours surveying the wreckage with submersibles, capturing over 700,000 images -- this allowed them to create a never before seen, high-definition, 3D reconstruction of the vessel. 

Magellan's Gerhard Seiffert, who heads the expedition, said the underwater scanning project was the largest and most complex he had ever undertaken.

"The depth of it, almost 4,000m, represents a challenge, and you have currents at the site, too - and we're not allowed to touch anything so as not to damage the wreck," he explained.

"And the other challenge is that you have to map every square centimetre - even uninteresting parts, like on the debris field you have to map mud, but you need this to fill in between all these interesting objects."

Parks Stephenson, a Titanic analyst, was "blown away" by the new scans. 

"It allows you to see the wreck as you can never see it from a submersible, and you can see the wreck in its entirety, you can see it in context and perspective. And what it's showing you now is the true state of the wreck," he said. 

Stephenson said the new scans might reveal new secrets behind the maritime disaster 111 years ago.