Scientists examining samples of the shipwrecked Titanic have discovered a new type of bacteria threatening to devour the entire iron structure of the ocean liner.
The new species of microscopic bacteria, Halmonas Titanicae from the Halomondaceae family, has been found eating away at the sunken ship, UK's The Sun reports.
The samples were actually taken from the ship in 1991, but new DNA technology has only recently allowed scientists to identify the rust-eating bacteria.
Scientists predict that clumps of rust attached to the ship will eventually disintegrate into a fine powder in the salt water, resulting in a complete collapse of the structure by 2030.
The findings by Dr Henrietta Mann and Bhavleen Kaur from Dalhousie University in Halifax in Canada and researchers from Spain's University of Sevilla were published late last year in the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology.
"To explain it in human terms, not every type of bacteria has the same taste … the rusticles on Titanic are made from a composition of different microorganisms and there is one particular bacteria which particularly likes eating iron," Dr Mann said.
"In this case, the bacteria helps to decompose the ship."
This discovery confirms reports by divers who have visited the wreck and said that the ship is gradually decaying.
"It has already lasted for 100 years but eventually there will be nothing left but a rust stain on the bottom of the Atlantic to remember this once magnificent ocean liner from," Dr Mann.
"I think (the) Titanic has maybe 15 or 20 years left. I don’t think it will have too much longer than that."
Chairman of the Irish Titanic Historical Society Ed Coghlan said future generations may think it was "a shame" efforts weren't made to preserve the wreckage even though the task itself would "cost an absolute fortune and is probably impossible".
"The Titanic is a very human story from its construction to its sinking and the re-discovery and it will be fascinating to see what happens to the wreck in the coming years," Mr Coghlan said.
"Fortunately it has been photographed extensively and there are wonderful videos and still shots to show us what it looked like underwater so there will always be a record of it."
The Titanic was called an "unsinkable" ship but it sank after hitting an iceberg while on her maiden voyage in 1912, killing more than 1500 passengers and crew.
It lay undiscovered until 1985 when a combined American-French expedition found the historic ship's resting place 530km south east of Newfoundland.
The new species of microscopic bacteria, Halmonas Titanicae from the Halomondaceae family, has been found eating away at the sunken ship, UK's The Sun reports.
The samples were actually taken from the ship in 1991, but new DNA technology has only recently allowed scientists to identify the rust-eating bacteria.
Scientists predict that clumps of rust attached to the ship will eventually disintegrate into a fine powder in the salt water, resulting in a complete collapse of the structure by 2030.
The findings by Dr Henrietta Mann and Bhavleen Kaur from Dalhousie University in Halifax in Canada and researchers from Spain's University of Sevilla were published late last year in the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology.
"To explain it in human terms, not every type of bacteria has the same taste … the rusticles on Titanic are made from a composition of different microorganisms and there is one particular bacteria which particularly likes eating iron," Dr Mann said.
"In this case, the bacteria helps to decompose the ship."
This discovery confirms reports by divers who have visited the wreck and said that the ship is gradually decaying.
"It has already lasted for 100 years but eventually there will be nothing left but a rust stain on the bottom of the Atlantic to remember this once magnificent ocean liner from," Dr Mann.
"I think (the) Titanic has maybe 15 or 20 years left. I don’t think it will have too much longer than that."
Chairman of the Irish Titanic Historical Society Ed Coghlan said future generations may think it was "a shame" efforts weren't made to preserve the wreckage even though the task itself would "cost an absolute fortune and is probably impossible".
"The Titanic is a very human story from its construction to its sinking and the re-discovery and it will be fascinating to see what happens to the wreck in the coming years," Mr Coghlan said.
"Fortunately it has been photographed extensively and there are wonderful videos and still shots to show us what it looked like underwater so there will always be a record of it."
The Titanic was called an "unsinkable" ship but it sank after hitting an iceberg while on her maiden voyage in 1912, killing more than 1500 passengers and crew.
It lay undiscovered until 1985 when a combined American-French expedition found the historic ship's resting place 530km south east of Newfoundland.
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