Titanic to be explored like never before

Re-creation of a first class stateroom on the Titanic at the Artefact Exhibition, currently in Melbourne. Photo / Supplied

A team of scientists are about to "virtually raise" the Titanic by using 3D techniques to map the entire wreckage site of the sunken transatlantic liner for the first time, Reuters reported today.

The group of experts will use cutting-edge robots and high resolution 3D imaging to reconstruct a detailed picture of the remains of the ship and of the wreckage site on the floor of the North Atlantic, much of it never seen before.

"About 40-50 per cent of the Titanic site has never been looked at," said co-expedition leader Dave Gallo, director of special projects at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the world's largest private nonprofit oceanographic institution, based in Massachusetts.

"Everything to this point has been pretty much exploration, or adventure," Gallo told Reuters, noting that this expedition will be the first to work archaeologically on the deep-water site.

The RMS Titanic was the world's biggest passenger liner when it left Southampton, England, for New York on its maiden voyage on April 10, 1912.

Four days into the trip, the ship hit an iceberg and sank, taking more than 1500 passengers with it. Its whereabouts remained a mystery until 1985, when it was discovered several hundred miles off the coast of Newfoundland.

The expedition website will provide ongoing updates and the History Channel is expected to broadcast a documentary, Reuters reported.

Any studies of the Titanic face a battle against time.

One of the serious problems facing scientists is the rapid deterioration of the hull, through rust and algae.

Some estimates say the hull will totally collapse in on itself in the next 10-15 years.