A new exhibition exploring the wreck of the RMS Titanic and the challenges of deep-sea exploration will open at Liverpool’s historic Albion House on 9 November.

The Titanic Explorer Exhibition will run until 22 December at the White Star Line Hotel, housed in the former headquarters of the shipping company behind the ill-fated ocean liner.

The six-week exhibition will focus on the discovery, exploration and recovery of artefacts from the Titanic wreck site, which lies approximately 3,840 metres beneath the surface of the North Atlantic.

Central to the exhibition are the experiences of Dik Barton, the first Briton to descend to the wreck, who has made 22 dives aboard the French research submersible Nautile and Russian MIR submersibles.

Visitors will be able to see equipment and memorabilia from his expeditions, including his dive suit, expedition diary and jackets worn during missions to the wreck.

Items recovered from the seabed will also be displayed, including pieces of coal, a section of Titanic’s wooden decking and fragments from the ‘Big Piece’, a large section of the ship’s hull recovered in 1998.

A scale model of the wreck site will illustrate the locations of Titanic’s bow, stern and debris field, while displays will explain the difficulties of operating at extreme depths, where pressure reaches around 380 times that at sea level.

Reflecting on his first encounter with the wreck, Barton said: “You can look at thousands of photographs and hours of film, but nothing prepares you for the moment Titanic emerges from the darkness in front of you. You suddenly realise that you are looking at the actual ship.”

The exhibition will also examine the conservation of recovered artefacts, the continuing deterioration of the wreck and the risks associated with deep-sea exploration, including the 2023 Titan submersible disaster.

It will take place in the Grand Hall of Albion House on James Street, a Grade II*-listed building that served as the headquarters of the White Star Line and retains strong links to Liverpool’s maritime history.

The event precedes the opening of the larger Titanic Exhibition Liverpool in January 2027, which will explore the wider history of the liner and the White Star Line.

According to organisers, only a selection of the items featured in the Titanic Explorer Exhibition will form part of the January exhibition.

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