Interactive, virtual project under way to explore shipwrecks

PORTLAND, Maine – A new project to explore the wreck of the ship dubbed as New England’s Titanic is underway.

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has partnered with NOAA’s Office of Marine Sanctuaries and Marine Imaging Technologies as a part of a three-year project to explore shipwrecks.

The Portland Press Herald reports researchers reached the SS Portland shipwreck Monday and over the course of the next few days will live-stream their work to schools and museums around the country.

The luxury steamship carried passengers between Portland and Boston before it sank in 1898, killing about 200 people on board.

The team of researchers plan to assemble three-dimensional models to measure and assess the condition of the wreck as well as capture a 360-degree video to create virtual and underwater tours.