On Friday, the US government withdrew its motion to intervene in a federal admiralty court in Virginia, which oversees salvage matters for the Titanic. This decision effectively ends the latest legal battle between the US government and RMS Titanic Inc., the only company previously authorized to salvage artifacts from the sunken ocean liner.
The US government's withdrawal follows an announcement by RMS Titanic Inc. that it does not plan to visit the ship in 2025 and will not conduct future expeditions. "We will diligently consider the strategic, legal, and financial implications of conducting future salvage operations at the site," the company stated, according to The Independent.
The US indicated that it wanted to leave the door open to challenging subsequent expeditions related to the Titanic wreck.
The legal dispute originated when RMS Titanic planned to take images inside the ship's hull and retrieve items from the surrounding debris field. The US government argued that entering the hull or disturbing the wreck would violate a 2017 federal law and a corresponding agreement with Great Britain. Both the US and Great Britain consider the Titanic wreck site a "sacred monument" in tribute to the more than 1,500 people who died when the ship sank in 1912.
Following the tragic implosion of the submersible OceanGate Titan in 2023, RMS Titanic announced that its next voyage would only involve recording external images and videos. The OceanGate Titan voyage ended with the death of five passengers, including OceanGate's CEO Stockton Rush and RMS Titanic director of underwater research, Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
RMS Titanic has conducted a total of eight expeditions to the ship's resting place in the North Atlantic Ocean, recovering and conserving thousands of items, including personal effects of passengers, cutlery, and a piece of the ship's hull. The company's last expedition to recover artifacts was in 2010, before the federal law and international agreement took effect.
In 2020, RMS Titanic sought to retrieve and exhibit the radio that broadcast the Titanic's distress calls. The US government swiftly challenged this salvage plan. US District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith, who presides over Titanic salvage matters, gave RMS Titanic permission to proceed with its plans. However, the legal battle never played out because the company indefinitely delayed the expedition in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
During a court hearing in March, Judge Smith noted that time may be running out for expeditions inside the Titanic, as the shipwreck is rapidly deteriorating on the North Atlantic seabed. The deterioration of the wreck adds urgency to efforts aimed at exploring and preserving the remains of the iconic ship.
RMS Titanic has been the court-recognized steward of Titanic artifacts since it won salvage rights to the ship in 1994, which the United States granted for items submerged in the depths of the ocean related to the Titanic. The company's role has been to recover and conserve artifacts from the wreck site, providing valuable insights into the ship's history and the lives of those on board.
This article was written in collaboration with generative AI company Alchemiq