London, November 2 : The tragedy that hit the Titanic, which claimed more than 1500 lives, could have been averted had it been constructed with steel rivets, a new documentary reveals.

According to a documentary, the Olympic-class passenger liner that had hit the bottom of the ocean on its maiden voyage sank because its bow and stern were bolted together with weak wrought-iron rivets.

The documentary, ‘The Unsinkable Titanic’ will lay the claim that the liner could have stayed afloat had the shipbuilders ‘Harland and Wolff’ in Belfast chosen the available ‘best best’ quality rather than only ‘best’ wrought-iron quality.

In addition to the particular assertion, the study also attributed 16 different factors that had contributed to the deadliest peacetime maritime disaster in history.

“The implications are astounding. Lives would have been saved but for their choice on a very small, but critical detail,” the Daily Express quoted Metallurgist Jennifer Hooper McCarty as saying.

However, Harland and Wolff defended their stand saying there was ‘absolutely nothing wrong with the Titanic’s construction or materials used’.

Despite using the most advanced technology and experienced crew, the liner had hit an iceberg and sank early on 15 April 1912 - two hours before the rescue ship Carpathia arrived. (ANI)