Titanic photo expedition reveals famed railing on ship's bow has fallen off

The Titanic may have survived more than a century at the bottom of the North Atlantic, but a chunk of the ship's iconic bow railing, featured in the movie of the same name, has not, newly released photos show.

RMS Titanic Inc., the American company with salvage rights to the wreck, completed its ninth remote imaging expedition since it first visited the wreck at the bottom of the Atlantic in 1987. More than 2 million photos were taken and countless artifacts were scouted for future recovery, according to the company.

Among the discoveries made during the July mission, was a "significant" change to the Titanic's silhouette since it was last photographed in 2022 by the deep-sea mapping company Magellan.

A 15-foot-long portion of the railing on the ship's bow -- recognizable from James Cameron's 1997 film "Titanic" scene where Jack held Rose over the front of the ship -- has fallen off and is seen lying on the ocean floor.

"Titanic's Bow is iconic," the company said in a statement on its website. "We are saddened by this loss and the inevitable decay of the Ship and the debris."

"Although Titanic's collapse is inevitable, this evidence strengthens our mission to preserve and document what we can before it is too late," the company added.

Additionally, remote imaging captured a look at the 2-foot-tall bronze statuette of the Roman goddess Diana, known as "Diana of Versailles."

The statue was previously positioned on a fireplace mantle in the first-class lounge of the Titanic.

When the ship sank, the lounge was torn open and the statue of Diana was thrown into the debris field where it rested for over a century, according to the company.

"With just hours left on the final day of Expedition 2024, Diana was found and photographed. We are honored to release these breathtaking visuals captured by Marine Imaging Technologies and showcase the beautiful and intricate details of Diana not seen in 112 years," the company said.

The Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, after the ship hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean while traveling from Southampton in the United Kingdom to New York.

More than 1,500 passengers and crew members died in the shipwreck.

The Titanic was first discovered on the Atlantic ocean floor over 12,000 feet below sea level in September 1985.