泰坦尼克号打捞工程争分夺秒

　　Salvagers racing against time in Titanic

　　皇家邮船泰坦尼克号是它那个黄金年代中最后的宏伟幻梦，它的诞生标志着那个时代的顶峰，同时也正预示着一个新时代的来临。

　　泰坦尼克号船体长达883英尺(270米)，宽92英尺(28米)，重达46，328吨。从龙骨到船桥高104英尺(31.7米)， 尽管其中有35英尺在吃水线下，它水面以上的高度仍能超过当时大都市中的任何建筑物。泰坦尼克号的内部设施是当时最豪华先进的：配备给每个房间的电灯和取暖设备，层次间的直达电梯，一个游泳池，一个土尔其浴室，健身房，大厅以及可以同最高档酒店客房相媲美的头等舱。为适应乘客的口味，它还提供了各式各样的餐厅和咖啡厅；此外，还有由一流的音乐家组成的两个乐团。在泰坦尼克号上有两个图书馆，分别为头等舱和二等舱服务。

　　在泰坦尼克号船体建造的两年中，传媒屡次将该船的宏伟程度广为宣传，这使泰坦尼克在下水远航前就成了当代传奇 。

　　泰坦尼克号的首航诱来无数“风流人物”：英国贵族，美国企业家，纽约和费城的各界名流。同时，它也吸引了许多 贫穷的移民，企盼着能在美国或加拿大开始新的生活。然而……

　　Divers scouring(四处搜索) the Titanic for diamonds said on Saturday they were racing against time before the wr eck is lost forever. But the youngest survivor of the 1 912 disaster pleaded with salvage(打捞) experts to leave the stricken liner alone. "We can see through scientifi c testing that the ship is deteriorating(腐蚀) at a very, very rapid rate. The ocean is basically eating the Tita nic alive," said G. Michael Harris, founder of the salv age company RMS Titanic Inc. "Our fear is that we are r acing against time to be able to rescue these artifacts and bring them back to the surface before they are lost forever, " he told BBC Radio. "We will hopefully be abl e to recover some of the first class luggage out of the cargo hold as well as the registered mial(挂号邮件), "he sa id.

　　He said they had recovered about five percent of th e artifacts off the Titanic which sand after striking a n iceberg on April 14, 1912, killing 1,500 crew and pas sengers.

　　Making the first manned dives into the wreckage(残骸) , they will be searching for a shipment of diamonds alo ng with passengers' jewelry that Titanic experts believ e was hurriedly stashed in pursers' bags as the ship wa s sinking on its maiden voyage. "Two brothers were comi ng out of Switzerland. They had a shipment of diamonds they were bringing back to New York with them that they lost on Titanic which today would be valued at over $30 0 million," Harris said.

　　Using manned submersibles(有潜入水中能力的) and a miniature (小型的) remote operated vehicle dubbed "a flying eyeball" and equipped with a video camera, the salvers(打捞人员) pla n to gather artifacts left behind in the front cargo ho ld and peer into adjacent rooms. Millvena Dean, the you ndest living survivor of the disaster who was just nine weeks old when the ship went down, said: "I think it is all wrong. I think the ship should be left in peace. An y bits and pieces that have come out form the ship on t he seabed- that is alright," she said. "But to go on th e ship- No that is all wrong." Harris, answering her cr iticism, said " We have worked very closely actually wi th Millvena Dean over the years. She has come to our ex hibits,she has come to our openings and we respect her and her family members." "Our job is to go out there an d preserve history and that is what we do…We should not leave those artifacts down there to be lost for future generations," he said. Florida-based RMS Titanic, which owns salvage rights to the Titanic, has made it clear t hat any artifacts would be preserved for display and no ne would be sold off.

　　英语周报 刊号：CN14-0705/(f)