The U.S. government is attempting to prevent an expedition to the Titanic planned for next year, a move that comes a few months after the Titan submersible disaster, CNN reported.
RMS Titanic Inc., a Georgia-based company, has conducted several expeditions to the wreckage since obtaining the exclusive salvage rights to the Titanic's remains in 1994. CNN reported that a similar legal showdown occurred in 2020, when RMS Titanic made a request to salvage the Titanic's radio, a request that was granted by a U.S. district judge but was challenged by the government. The expedition ultimately never took place.
However, the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Eastern District of Virginia is seeking to prevent an expedition unless the company can "obtain an authorization from the secretary of commerce," and its maritime unit, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, citing the Titanic Memorial Act of 1986.
The government argued in U.S. district court in Norfolk, Virginia, that despite the 1994 agreement, "RMST is not free to disregard this validly enacted federal law."
"This has been a long time coming," Ole Varmer, a retired NOAA lawyer whose specialty is shipwreck conservation, told The New York Times.
Varmer noted that the government "has been forced to intervene as a party and ask the court to enforce these laws."
The US Attorney's Office of the Eastern District of Virginia said in response to request for comment: "We are not giving any additional statements beyond what's contained in the filing at this point."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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