US Against Plan To Auction More Than 100 Artefacts Recovered From Titanic Shipwreck

The U.S. government is opposing a plan by RMS Titanic Inc. to auction more than 100 artifacts recovered from the wreck of the Titanic, saying the sale would violate agreements that require the collection to stay together and be displayed for the public.

The dispute became public through newly unsealed court documents. RMS Titanic, the Georgia-based company with exclusive salvage rights to the famous shipwreck in the North Atlantic, wants to sell recovered items for the first time despite earlier agreements to display them only in museums and travelling exhibitions.

The planned auction includes personal belongings, currency, kitchen items and decorative pieces recovered from the wreck. Court documents mention items such as a bronze cherub, a necklace made of gold nuggets and a heart-shaped pendant.

The company also plans to display the artifacts during a global exhibition tour across four cities, although the locations have not been announced.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which oversees U.S. interests at the Titanic wreck site, argues that selling the artifacts would break the company’s legal obligations.

In court filings asking the judge to stop the auction, the government said RMS Titanic “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 did not respond to requests for comment. However, its lawyers have previously argued in a federal court filing that the proposed auction would not violate existing court orders or agreements covering the collection.

The latest case is another attempt by the company to sell Titanic artifacts.

Since 1987, salvage expeditions have recovered thousands of artifacts from the wreck, including parts of the ship’s hull. RMS Titanic earns money by displaying the collection through exhibitions.

Over the years, the company has tried to sell artifacts to help fund future expeditions and during periods of financial difficulty. Those efforts were opposed by U.S. courts, preservation groups and relatives of Titanic victims because some of the recovered items belonged to passengers on board the ship.

However, artifacts recovered by survivors or collected from the water by rescuers can legally be sold.

A life jacket worn by a Titanic passenger sold for just over US$900,000 in April, while a gold pocket watch presented to the captain of the rescue ship sold for nearly US$2 million in 2024.

Auctioneers say interest in the Titanic remains strong more than a century after the ship struck an iceberg and sank during its maiden voyage from Europe to New York in 1912, killing more than 1,500 of the around 2,200 people on board. They say that interest, along with the rarity of genuine Titanic artifacts, continues to drive high prices.

The legal dispute also involves ownership of some of the recovered artifacts.

RMS Titanic plans to auction some of the first items recovered from the wreck. Those artifacts were taken to France, where a court awarded ownership to the salvager.

French oceanographic institute IFREMER worked with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to discover the Titanic wreck.

Thousands of other artifacts were recovered during later expeditions, with the salvage claim handled by the U.S. District Court in Norfolk, Virginia.

NOAA says all of the roughly 5,000 recovered artifacts, whether claimed in France or the United States, must remain together as one collection under conditions set by the U.S. court. The agency also says a French court required the artifacts to stay together and not be sold individually.

RMS Titanic argues that the U.S. court does not have jurisdiction over the artifacts whose ownership was decided in France.

Representatives of the French government did not respond to requests for comment.

Some ocean explorers have also opposed selling Titanic artifacts, saying they should remain available for the public to see.

“I don’t have a problem with people recovering artifacts from the Titanic as long as it’s done carefully, with proper archaeological techniques,” veteran ocean explorer Greg Stone said. “I’d feel better if it was a nonprofit enterprise.”

Richard Daynard, a law professor at Northeastern University School of Law in Boston, said the rules governing Titanic artifacts are meant to preserve the wreck for the public rather than allow historic items to become private collectibles.

“If it’s something where someone can walk through their house and say, ‘Yes, I bought this for $5 million and it’s original from the Titanic,’ that’s not a good thing,” he said.

The legal case is still ongoing. The U.S. government wants the auction stopped, while RMS Titanic says its proposal follows existing court orders and agreements. The court’s decision will determine whether the planned sale of more than 100 Titanic artifacts can move forward.

References: AP News, The Guardian