Polystyrene piece taken to Titanic wreckage sells at auction for £1.4k

A PIECE of polystyrene which was taken to the underwater wreckage of the Titanic 24 years ago has been sold at a Belfast auction for £1,400.

The polystyrene piece had never actually been on the doomed liner during its time at sea, but was instead taken on a submersible voyage to the wreckage of RMS Titanic, by explorer Dik Barton in the year 2000.

The tiny piece of polystyrene which returned from the seabed is a quarter of its original size after it was crushed by water pressure after being taken outside of the submersible.

Another piece of the same polystyrene tile was left above sea level and dwarfs the part taken down into the depths of the North Atlantic.

The auctioned piece had been estimated by experts from the British Titanic Society to reach a final valuation between £500 and £800, with auctioneer Colin Cobb bringing the hammer down at almost three times the lower estimate at the weekend.

The auction took place at the Titanic Hotel in Belfast as part of the British Titanic Society’s annual convention, where over 150 delegates and Titanic enthusiasts from across the world had assembled for the weekend.

The hotel is located in the former headquarters of Harland & Wolff.

It was the first convention to be held by the British Titanic Society since the fatal Oceangate submersible disaster which took place on June 18, 2023, where all five members of the expedition died.

The Harland & Wolff-built Titanic infamously sank on its maiden voyage after hitting an iceberg on April 15, 1912.

On Monday, a short service of prayer and reflection, followed by a wreath-laying ceremony, was held at Belfast City Hall, organised by the Belfast Titanic Society to remember the lives of the 1,512 people who perished at sea.

While artefacts from the wreck or owned by passengers have long fascinated the public, such is the macabre fascination with the Titanic that even items with no direct link to the ship often sell for high prices at auction.