Legal Problems Have Halted Titanic Salvage Missions For The Foreseeable Future
Back in 1912, the Titanic hit an iceberg, but now its salvage missions are colliding with a whole new obstacle. Efforts to recover artifacts from the wreckage have been placed on indefinite hold, thanks to legal issues.
RMS Titanic, Inc. (RMST) is the only company legally permitted to salvage artifacts from the Titanic, a right that was granted to them by the United States government in 1994. Over the years, RMST has conducted eight excursions to the ocean liner at the bottom of the North Atlantic.
These operations led to the recovery and conservation of thousands of items, including clothing, silverware, the personal effects of passengers, and a section of the hull.
The company’s latest mission took place in July 2024 and lasted for 20 days. During that time, more than two million high-resolution videos and photos were captured.
RMST also confirmed that part of the forecastle deck’s bow railing had disintegrated. It is estimated that most of the Titanic will disintegrate within the next few decades.
However, RMST will not be returning to the wreckage site in 2025. Any future voyages would need to be considered with great care before they are carried out.
The decision to put missions on an indefinite hold also ends a legal battle with the U.S. government, which passed a law in 2017 that prohibits salvagers from disturbing the site due to its status as a memorial for the 1,500 lives lost when the ship sank.
In 2020, a district judge approved of RMST’s plan to dive to the site in 2023, take pictures, and retrieve historically valuable objects that have been exposed to the harsh conditions of the ocean for 112 years. However, the government challenged the ruling, citing a possible violation of the 2017 law.
The COVID-19 pandemic delayed the expedition and prevented the case from actually going to court. The government argued that RMST would need permission from the Secretary of Commerce in order to move forward with their plan.
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Following the 2023 Oceangate Titan submersible implosion, RMST announced that its mission would only involve recording images and video, not retrieving artifacts.
So, the government withdrew its legal challenge, but in doing so, it asserted its ability to challenge any expeditions in the future as well.
As a result, it seems likely that any expeditions to the wreck will face a whole lot of red tape. To complicate matters even further, the wreckage site is continuing to deteriorate every second it stays in the water. Time is running out, and pretty soon, there may not be much of the Titanic left to save.
The ship’s resting place was first discovered in 1985 during a joint American and French expedition led by Dr. Robert Ballard.
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