RMS Titanic, the company holding the salvage rights to the wreck of the Titanic, says its latest robotic survey of the shipwreck site revealed the deterioration of the Titanic’s iconic bow, as well as the location of a long-sought statuette.

The 20-day expedition, conducted in July and August, provided the first look at the 112-year-old wreck since last year’s OceanGate tragedy. That dive ended in the catastrophic loss of Everett, Wash.-based Oceangate’s Titan submersible and its five-person crew, including company CEO and co-founder Stockton Rush.

In a news release, RMS Titanic said the findings from this summer’s expedition “showcase a bittersweet mix of preservation and loss.”

On the positive side of the ledger, RMS Titanic’s underwater robot captured imagery of a 2-foot-high statuette known as the “Diana of Versailles.” The statue of a Greek goddess once held a place of honor in the Titanic’s First Class Lounge, but it was thrown out from the wreck when the ship struck an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic during its first voyage in 1912. More than 1,500 people perished in what became history’s most famous shipwreck.

The statue was last seen during an underwater survey in 1986, and some experts feared that it had been lost forever. But researchers found fresh clues in video footage captured during a previous RMS Titanic survey and narrowed down the area for a renewed search. The company said the Diana statue was found and photographed with just hours to go on the final day of this year’s expedition.

Imagery from RMS Titanic’s underwater robot also revealed that a 15-foot-long section of the railing on the shipwreck’s bow has gone missing — apparently due to decomposition of the corroded metal. Two years earlier, the lost section was mostly intact, though in a state of advanced decay, as shown in corresponding imagery that was captured by OceanGate’s Titan sub.

The remains of the railing could be seen sitting on the seafloor in a different image captured by RMS Titanic’s camera.

“The discovery of the statue of Diana was an exciting moment,” said Tomasina Ray, RMS Titanic’s director of collections. “But we are saddened by the loss of the iconic bow railing and other evidence of decay which has only strengthened our commitment to preserving Titanic’s legacy.”

The RMS Titanic team captured more than 2 million high-resolution photos and videos of the wreck site, and mapped the wreck and the surrounding debris field using laser scanning, sonar imaging and magnetometer readings. Now the data will be analyzed for scientific purposes — and to identify at-risk artifacts that could be recovered safely during future expeditions.

In other developments:

• The wrongful-death lawsuit filed on behalf of the family of Titanic explorer P.H. Nargeolet, who died in last year’s loss of OceanGate’s Titan sub, has been transferred from King County Superior Court to U.S. District Court in Seattle. The case has been assigned to Magistrate Judge Brian Tsuchida. Plaintiffs in the case say they intend to seek more than $50 million in damages.
• The U.S. Coast Guard will convene a public hearing in North Charleston, S.C., on Sept. 16 to consider evidence related to the loss of the Titan sub and its crew. Sessions are due to continue through Sept. 26 or 27. The Marine Board of Investigation’s hearing will examine all aspects of Titan’s loss, including pre-accident historical events, regulatory compliance, crew member duties and qualifications, mechanical and structural systems, emergency response and the submersible industry. Coverage of the hearing will be live-streamed.