The remains of the Titanic on the ocean floor are being slowly destroyed by a newly identified bacteria, isolated from ‘rusticles’ on the Titanic, the Guardian reported last year. Microorganisms collected from a ‘rusticle’, a structure that looks like an icicle but consists of rust, are slowly destroying the iron hull of the liner on the seabed 3.8km (2.36 miles) below the Atlantic waves where it sank, in April 1912.
The newly identified species, while potentially dangerous to vital underwater installations such as offshore oil and gas pipelines, could also offer a new way to recycle iron from old ships and marine structures.