LONDON: Ocean explorer Robert Ballard is not a happy man. Nearly 20 years after he discovered the watery grave of the Titanic and then pleaded for it to be left alone , Dr Ballard, often described as the marine equivalent of Indiana Jones, is returning to the world's most famous shipwreck.

He wants to see for himself the damage caused in the intervening years by what he dismisses as a "circus" of visiting treasure seekers, scientists, tourists and the occasional Oscar- winning filmmaker.

What he finds on the seabed is unlikely to brighten his mood. The wreck is disintegrating far faster than scientists predicted. Most of the external wooden fittings have gone, microbes are rusting the hull away, and the crows nest from where lookout Frederick Fleet shouted "iceberg right ahead" late on the night of April 14, 1912, has been torn from the collapsed mast and swallowed by the sea.

"This is our first chance to go back and see what's happened," Dr Ballard said. "We know that Titanic has been naturally deteriorating over time, but I'm convinced that the deterioration is being accelerated by manmade impacts as well."

Of chief concern is a secret voyage made by salvage operators in 2002, who are rumoured to have tried to smash their way into the first-class cargo hold looking for a shipment of diamonds.

Dr Ballard will next week sail from Boston to the north Atlantic Ocean, where he will rendezvous with the US research vessel Ronald H Brown. He will inspect the Titanic, 4,000 metres under the sea, from a cramped mini submarine.

The team will spend 11 days at the site, making several dives to map and photograph the wreck. They will compare the new information with detailed surveys prepared in 1986, a year after Dr Ballard identified the ship's final resting place. -Dawn/The Guardian News Service.