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The US government is decisively intervening to prevent the planned expedition to recover artefacts from the Titanic wreck next year, referring to a federal law and an international pact that recognise the shipwreck as a revered burial site.
RMS Titanic Inc. (RMST), a Georgia-based company holding salvage rights to the world’s most famous shipwreck, organizes the expedition. The company showcases artifacts retrieved from the depths of the North Atlantic, including silverware and a segment of the Titanic’s hull.
According to The New York Times, the federal government is taking legal action to assert control over who can recover artefacts from the storied liner and, potentially, to block an expedition planned for next year. The move comes as the Titan submersible disaster of June 18 raised questions about who controls access to the ship’s remains, which lie more than two miles down on the North Atlantic seabed. The legal action is also notable because it pits the legislative and executive branches of government against the judicial branch.
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The federal government is now seeking to become a party to the salvage case and block any expedition it deems objectionable. It claims the legal right to have the Secretary of Commerce and its maritime unit, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, approve or deny permission to RMS Titanic whenever “the company” seeks the court’s permission to conduct more artefact recoveries, reported the news outlet.
“This has been a long time coming,” Ole Varmer, a retired lawyer for NOAA who specialises in shipwreck conservation, told the NYT.
The federal government, he added, “has been forced to intervene as a party and ask the court to enforce these laws.”
