Plan to auction over 100 Titanic artifacts faces US government opposition | US news
A plan to auction more than 100 artifacts salvaged from the wreck of the Titanic, including personal items, currency, kitchen utensils and decorations, is facing backlash from the US government, according to newly unsealed court documents.
RMS Titanic Inc., which has exclusive salvage rights to the famous wreck deep in the North Atlantic, wants to sell the artifacts for the first time despite previous agreements to display them only in museums and traveling exhibits.
Georgia-based RMS Titanic has proposed auctioning the works and displaying them on a global tour in four cities, but those locations have not yet been publicly disclosed. Court documents filed in the US refer to the company’s plan to sell works including a bronze angel, a necklace of gold bars and a heart-shaped necklace.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) represents U.S. interests and oversight at the debris field. The agency claims such a sale would violate RMS Titanic’s legal obligations to the site, according to documents that a judge ordered unsealed earlier this month.
Arguing that the auction should be banned, the government wrote that the company “did not seek court approval, did not believe approval was necessary, and maintained that its ability to sell the works was not restricted.”
Representatives of RMS Titanic did not respond to requests for comment Monday. His lawyers have previously argued in federal court that the proposed auction arrangement would not violate existing court orders and agreements regarding the works.
This is just the latest attempt to sell Titanic artifacts.
Thousands of items and even parts from the Titanic’s hull have been recovered in salvage operations since 1987. RMS Titanic makes money by displaying these.
The company has tried for decades to sell artifacts to finance future exploration and face financial problems. But these efforts were fiercely opposed by U.S. courts, as well as by conservation groups and victims’ relatives. Some of the rescued items belonged to the passengers on the ship.
However, items rescued by survivors or pulled from the water by rescuers can be sold and often fetch large sums of money. A life jacket worn by a passenger sold for just over $900,000 in April, while a gold pocket watch given to the ship captain who rescued the survivors sold for nearly $2 million in 2024.
Auctioneers say the rarity of the works and the enduring fascination with the Titanic, the ocean liner that sank after hitting an iceberg on its maiden voyage from Europe to New York in 1912, killing more than 1,500 of the 2,200 people on board, have contributed to high demand and exorbitant prices.
