Fire caused Titanic sinking, claims researcher

A fire in the boiler room may be the real reason for the sinking of the Titanic, a journalist and Titanic expert claims.

In a new documentary, Irish journalist Senan Molony, who has been researching the disaster for 30 years, says the ship's hull was weakened by a massive blaze that burned.

SEE ALSO: Titanic locker key sells for £85k at auction

SEE ALSO: Arctic icebergs a "bigger threat today" than for the Titanic

He says that photographs of the ship with a dark mark on the hull before it left Southampton support the theory.

Molony claims that the photos, taken by the chief electrical engineer before the liner left Belfast shipyard, show black marks in the exact area where the iceberg later struck.

The doomed Titanic went down on April 15, 1912 during her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York, killing 1,500 people.

Speaking to The Times, Molony said: "The official Titanic inquiry branded it as an act of God. This isn't a simple story of colliding with an iceberg and sinking.

"It's a perfect storm of extraordinary factors coming together: fire, ice and criminal negligence."

He believes that the ocean liner was unusually reversed into her berth so passengers wouldn't see the marks.

The journalist added: "Nobody has investigated these marks before or dwelled upon them. It totally changes the narrative."

Speaking to the Mirror, he said: "The fire was known about and briefly addressed at the inquiry, but it was played down.

"She should never have been put to sea but the Titanic has already been delayed a couple of times and was committed to leave on April 10th."

Mr Molony's theory will be presented in the documentary Titanic: The New Evidence, which will be broadcast on New Year's Day on Channel 4.