RMS Titanic is exactly where it’s been for the last 114 years, gently rusting on the North Atlantic seabed, 12,500 feet below the ocean’s surface. And yet, long after everyone involved in the tragedy has died, this ocean liner is still making headlines.
The exclusive salvage rights to the wreck of the Titanic are held by Atlanta-based company Premier Exhibitions, which runs RMS Titanic Inc. They make money by exhibiting artifacts retrieved from the wreck to the public billing themselves as “the only exhibition with Titanic artifacts recovered from the ocean floor”. These range from small possessions once owned by passengers all the way to chunks of the ship’s hull.
RMS Titanic Inc and the US government, which has oversight of the wreck, reportedly have an agreement that items from the wreck can only be salvaged for museum display and traveling exhibitions, not sold for profit.
Now RMS Titanic Inc has a plan to auction more than 100 artifacts taken from the wreck. Newly unsealed court documents detail that these range from personal belongings once owned by passengers, currency, kitchen items used on the ship, and elements of interior decoration. The Guardian has further specifics, noting that they include a “bronze cherub, a necklace of gold nuggets and a heart-shaped pendant.”
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is fighting back, saying the auction is a violation of RMS Titanic Inc’s obligations to the site. Now they’re trying to get this auction canceled, saying in court documents that RMS Titanic Inc “does not seek the court’s approval, does not believe that approval is required, and asserts that it is not restricted in its ability to sell the artifacts.”
RMS Titanic Inc has not made a public statement, though their attorneys are reportedly arguing in a court filing that the planned auction isn’t in violation of the agreement that gives them the right to salvage the wreck.
Should we let the Titanic rest?
All of this comes against the background of RMS Titanic Inc’s financial woes. In 2016, Premier Exhibitions filed for bankruptcy protection, and in 2018, it sold the entire collection (valued at around $200 million) and salvage rights to a hedge fund consortium for $19.5 million, with RMS Titanic Inc still responsible for exhibiting them.
The Guardian reports that preservation groups and the relatives of the victims are unhappy at the idea of profiteering from the Titanic disaster, and these artifacts disappearing into private collections.
For example, in 2020, RMS Titanic Inc announced plans to cut through the ship’s hull in the hopes of retrieving the Marconi device used to signal for help on the night of the disaster. Permission was given, but the NOAA argued that the wreck site is the final resting place for the “mortal remains of more than 1,500 people” and should not be so casually disturbed.
The case continues.
