IN PICS: Unseen footage of Titanic wreckage shot in 1986

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the French National Institute of Oceanography found the sunken ship broken in two pieces southeast of Canada's Newfoundland

The Titanic, thought to be nearly impregnable when it was built, was the largest ocean liner in service at the time

More than 1,500 people died in the sinking, prompting outrage over a lack of lifeboats on board

The footage is being released, decades after more than a century after the ship hit an iceberg and sunk

The release of the footage marks the first time humans set eyes on the ill-fated ship since 1912

Built in Belfast, Titanic arrived in Cobh, or Queenstown as it was then, in Co Cork at approximately 11.30am on April 11th 1912, dropping anchor at around 12.15pm

It struck an iceberg on April 14 as it made its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York

According to the Reuters news agency, the footage was shot about 2 miles (3 km) below the ocean's surface, just months after explorers found the wreckage in 1985