Judge bans sale of Titanic artifacts

A US federal appeals court has refused to let an Atlanta salvage company sell artifacts recovered from the wreck of the Titanic.

In a 3-0 ruling, a panel of the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, upheld a decision by a lower-court judge and said that RMS Titanic Inc does not have title to the objects taken from the bottom of the sea.

The ruling came three days before the 90th anniversary of the sinking of the luxury liner in 1912. The ship went down in the North Atlantic on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York, after hitting an iceberg. More than 1,500 people died.

The company used a submersible to recover about 6,000 items since the wreck was discovered in 1985.

In 1994, after a long legal battle, US District Judge J Calvitt Clarke granted RMS Titanic the exclusive rights to bring up items from the wreck. Later, however, the company, citing financial difficulty, wanted to begin selling some or all of the items.

But Clarke refused to allow it, saying he originally granted sole salvage status to RMS Titanic because it promised it would make money only by displaying the artifacts at museums and travelling shows.

At the appeal hearing University of Virginia lawyer Neal Walters, appointed by the appeals court to argue the case, said the company was bound by its promise.

But RMS Titanic lawyer Mark Davis argued that the judge was never given an iron-clad promise, only a non-binding business plan that had since changed.

He also said the judge’s ban on sale of Titanic artifacts was inconsistent with admiralty law, which governs rights to sunken ships, but the appeals court rejected that argument.

The company, which continues to salvage Titanic artifacts, said the restrictions might force it into bankruptcy.