‘Titanic’ artifact salvage efforts paused indefinitely

RMS Titanic, Inc., the only company authorized to salvage artifacts from the Titanic, has announced that it will not be returning to the wreckage in 2025. This decision comes after a prolonged legal battle with the US government, predating the COVID-19 pandemic. While RMST is not completely ruling out future expeditions, their recent visit highlighted the dwindling time for preservation efforts.

Since being granted sole salvor-in-possession rights in 1994, RMST has conducted eight excursions to the Titanic’s resting place in the North Atlantic. These missions have led to the recovery and conservation of numerous items, including silverware, clothing, personal effects of passengers, and a section of the hull. The most recent expedition in July 2024 resulted in the capture of over two million high-resolution videos and photographs. Notably, RMST confirmed that a portion of the forecastle deck’s bow railing, famous from James Cameron’s Titanic, had disintegrated. Experts predict that a significant portion of the Titanic will disintegrate within the next few decades.

[ The famous railing from ‘Titanic’ has broken off from Titanic ] 

According to the Associated Press, the US government decided to withdraw its motion to intervene in a federal admiralty court on January 10th, following RMST’s decision to cancel recovery dive plans dating back to 2020. The proposed expedition aimed to document the wreckage’s status and retrieve historically significant artifacts that have been submerged for over 112 years at a depth of approximately 12,500 feet. RMST was particularly interested in recovering items from the Titanic’s Marconi room, named after the Marconi wireless telegraph machine used by the crew to send distress signals in Morse code.

Previous evidence indicated that the telegraph was located near the grand staircase in a deck house. The plan was to guide an unmanned robotic submersible to the machine, either through an open skylight or by cutting a small section of the corroded roof. Once the telegraph was located, the submersible’s suction dredge would remove surrounding silt while manipulator arms severed its electrical cords.

Although a US District Court judge initially approved RMST’s plans in 2020, the US government challenged the ruling, citing a federal law from 2017 that prohibits any exploration that “enters the hull” of the Titanic. The COVID-19 pandemic further delayed the legal proceedings.

Following the 2023 Oceangate Titan submersible incident, RMST announced that their upcoming voyage would focus solely on capturing external images and video. The tragic voyage resulted in the loss of all five passengers, including Oceangate’s CEO and RMST’s director of underwater research.

The AP reports that RMST has no plans to revisit the Titanic this year and has not confirmed future missions. However, the company has not ruled out a return that could involve salvaging additional artifacts before they are lost forever.

“RMST will carefully consider the strategic, legal, and financial implications of conducting future salvage operations at the site,” the company stated. The US government has made it clear that they will closely monitor any future developments.

“Should future circumstances warrant, the United States will file a new motion to intervene based on the facts at that time,” federal lawyers stated in their recent filing.