The US government is currently attempting to halt a planned expedition to recover valuable historical artifacts from the wreckage of the Titanic. The proposed expedition, set for May 2024, is being organized by RMS Titanic Inc., a Georgia-based company that holds the salvage rights to the iconic shipwreck. RMS Titanic Inc. currently showcases recovered artifacts from the wreck site, ranging from silverware to fragments of the ship’s hull.
This legal battle is taking place in the US District Court in Norfolk, Virginia, which is responsible for overseeing matters related to Titanic salvage operations. The dispute revolves around federal law and a joint agreement between the United States and Great Britain, designating the sunken Titanic as a memorial for the over 1,500 individuals who lost their lives.
According to court filings on Friday, US lawyers argued that RMST is not permitted to disregard the established federal law, as the company intends to do. They assert that this would result in the shipwreck being deprived of the protections Congress has granted it. Conversely, RMS Titanic Inc. plans to capture images of the entire wreck, including its interiors where deterioration has created openings that can be explored with remotely operated vehicles without disturbing the current structure. The company also intends to retrieve artifacts from the debris field and potentially from within the Marconi room, which houses the ship’s radio. However, they stress that they will not remove any objects that are attached to the wreck itself.
RMS Titanic Inc. states that it will cooperate with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the US agency responsible for safeguarding the public’s interest in the wreck. However, they do not plan to seek a permit. The US government’s legal representatives argue that the company cannot proceed without obtaining one, claiming that RMS Titanic Inc. requires approval from the secretary of commerce, who oversees the NOAA.
In previous cases, the company has contended that only the Norfolk court has jurisdiction over the wreckage and maintains this position in a statement to the AP. They emphasize that the court awarded them salvage rights thirty years ago. Since then, RMS Titanic Inc. claims to have recovered and preserved thousands of Titanic artifacts, viewed by millions of people. Last year, the company and the US government were embroiled in a similar legal battle concerning a proposed expedition that involved cutting into the wreck to retrieve the ship’s radio. In May 2020, US District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith granted permission for the expedition, deeming the radio historically significant and at risk of decay. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the legal proceedings were prematurely disrupted and not fully resolved.
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