The U.S. is taking decisive action to prevent the planned expedition to recover artifacts from the Titanic wreckage next year, firmly asserting the ship’s designation as a revered burial site under federal law and international agreement.
RMS Titanic Inc. is the leading firm with exclusive salvage rights to the Titanic wreck. The company has confidently organized an uncrewed expedition to capture detailed photos of the ship and explore its hull.
According to the Associated Press, the government is facing a legal challenge unrelated to the Titan submersible incident in June. The submersible imploded near a sunken ocean liner, resulting in five individuals’ deaths. However, this ongoing legal battle is centered around a different company and vessel with an unusual design. It’s important to note that these two incidents are not connected.
The U.S. District Court in Norfolk, Virginia is currently overseeing the legal battle for Titanic salvage.
The government has stated that RMST’s plan to enter the ship’s severed hull would violate a federal law and a pact with Great Britain. According to the government, the sunken ship should be treated as a memorial to the more than 1,500 people who died when the Titanic crashed into an iceberg and sank while crossing the Atlantic in 1912.
The government is worried about damage to artifacts and human remains on the ship.
“RMST is not free to disregard this validly enacted federal law, yet that is its stated intent,” U.S. lawyers argued in court documents filed Friday. They added that the shipwreck “will be deprived of the protections Congress granted it.”
RMST plans to capture images of the entire wreck during their tentative May 2024 expedition. RMST said in a court filing the mission would recover artifacts from the debris field and “may recover free-standing objects inside the wreck.”
RMST would “work collaboratively” with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. agency representing the public’s interest in the wreck, but won’t seek a permit.
U.S. government lawyers argued that RMST needs approval from the secretary of commerce overseeing NOAA before proceeding with the project.
RMST previously challenged the constitutionality of the U.S. attempting to interfere with its salvage rights to a wreck in international waters.
The firm argues that only the Norfolk court has jurisdiction, citing centuries of maritime precedent.
Where is the Titanic wreckage?Here’s where the ship is located and how deep it is.
The Government vs. RMST 2020 incident
In 2020, RMST planned a mission to retrieve a radio from a shipwreck, which led to a legal dispute with the government.
The original plan was for an unmanned submersible to enter through a window or onto the ship’s roof. A “suction dredge” would then remove loose silt while manipulator arms cut electrical cords.
The company made it clear they would exhibit the radio, accompanied by the heroic stories of the men who bravely sent out distress calls until the seawater was practically at their feet.
The district judge emphatically granted RMST permission in May 2020, emphasizing that the radio holds immense historical and cultural significance, and any further decay could lead to its irrevocable loss.
Weeks after the planned 2020 expedition, the US government legally challenged the firm which postponed its plans in early 2021 due to the pandemic.
