In 1912, a massive iceberg weighing around 1.7 million tons led to the sinking of the White Star liner Titanic, claiming the lives of over 1,500 individuals on a night that will always be remembered.

While the Titanic remains a poignant memory, tiny microorganisms, invisible to the naked eye, are gradually consuming the ship’s metal, causing it to corrode, disintegrate, and ultimately fade away.

According to Erin Field, a microbiologist and associate professor in the Department of Biology at East Carolina University, these microbes “can actually use the wreck itself as a source of energy.”

Some scientists estimate that the ship may collapse by as early as 2030, while others suggest it could take several centuries.

Learn more: “Lost Titanic statue” rediscovered

More than a decade of underwater explorations of the Titanic has revealed that the vessel is deteriorating. Recent signs of rapid decay — including the loss of a significant 15-foot railing section from the ship’s bow — reinforce the urgency of this issue.

The railing, a notable element of popular culture since the acclaimed movie “Titanic” released in 1997, exemplifies the ongoing degradation of the ship.

This section can now be seen lying on the ocean floor near the ship’s port anchor in the latest images captured by the RMS Titanic Inc. team during their July expedition.

What bacterium is eating at Titanic?

The deterioration of the Titanic is attributed to several factors, such as deep-sea currents, corrosive saltwater, and a specific microorganism known as Halomonas titanicae — a metal-consuming bacterium.

Halomonas is classified as “salt-loving” bacteria, and “titanicae” is derived from Latin, referencing the Titanic.

The Titanic was discovered by marine geologist Robert Ballard in 1985. While the initial photos from those dives lacked detail, Ballard returned to the site in 1986 with a National Geographic crew, where he observed icicle-like formations of rust across the ship, which he termed “rusticles.”

It took decades to find Titanic

Samples of these rusticles were collected, enclosed in sealed containers, and brought to the surface in 1991. DNA analysis of the microbes within these samples identified Halomonas titanicae.

How is the bacterium ‘eating’ Titanic?

The hull of the Titanic is made up of steel plates roughly one inch thick, composed primarily of iron and carbon, joined by rivets made of steel and wrought iron.

The degradation process begins as soon as a ship sinks. Upon reaching the ocean floor, a plethora of microbes gets to work:

• Microbes that were already present on the ship.
• Microbes existing in the surrounding water.
• Microbes located in the seafloor sediment that is disturbed when the ship descends.

Marine microorganisms require essential nutrients like carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and iron for growth and reproduction, which are typically scarce in the ocean.

When possible, these microbes adhere to underwater surfaces, including shipwrecks. Field notes, “When a wreck occurs, the ship becomes a new habitat.”

They create biofilms — a protective layer of cells around themselves. Other microbes do the same, forming communities that capture nutrients suspended in the water.

However, they also require oxygen to generate energy, and their biofilms can decrease the amount of oxygen extracted from the surrounding water.

On the Titanic, if oxygen becomes limited, Halomonas titanicae and its counterparts can derive energy from the iron within the wreck.

Essentially, these microbes convert iron from one form to another. This process oxidizes the iron, transforming it into rust, while the microbes obtain energy from electrons as oxygen resides electrons from the iron atoms present in the steel.

These biological and chemical reactions lead to the formation of rusticles.

“Rusticles are the byproducts of the chemical oxidation of that iron,” Field explains. Additional microbes within the rusticles can also oxidize the iron.

According to her, these microbes “continue utilizing the iron from the wreck, resulting in the formation of rusticles as it undergoes oxidation.”

What else is affecting Titanic’s deterioration?

Undersea currents

The Royal Meteorological Society in the U.K. indicates that ocean currents contributed to the sinking of the Titanic by “bringing sea ice and icebergs to the area” where the collision occurred in April 1912.

These submerged currents continue to impact the Titanic even now.

Positioned about 430 miles southeast of Newfoundland, the Titanic rests at a depth of 12,500 feet near the Western Boundary Undercurrent, a swift-moving flow of seawater that travels southwest along the U.S. Atlantic continental margin — the region between coastal waters and the deep ocean.

This current, along with others in the vicinity, creates disturbances

The BBC reports that the water will “cause the wreck to disintegrate due to a weakening effect.”

Corrosion from Saltwater

Halomonas titanicae isn’t the sole contributor to the Titanic’s decay. Saltwater can corrode metal at a rate five times greater than freshwater, which “weakens the metal and leads to disintegration,” as noted by sciencing.org.

According to Field, “Chlorides present in the salts are damaging the wreck’s surface, making the iron susceptible to oxidation by oxygen.”

Iron experiences rusting as it loses electrons to oxygen atoms through a process known as oxidation. The presence of saltwater accelerates oxidation because ions, which are electrically charged atoms, can move more easily in saltwater compared to fresh water. This enhances the transfer of electrons from iron surfaces.

Source: Reporting and research from YSL News Network; RMS Titanic Inc.; Royal Meteorological Society; NASA; Reuters; sciencing.org; biolabtests.com