A plan to sell artifacts from the Titanic faces U.S. government opposition

The Titanic leaves Southampton, England, April 10, 1912, on her maiden voyage. (AP file)

A plan to auction more than 100 artifacts salvaged from the wreckage of the Titanic -- including personal belongings, currency, kitchen items and decor -- is facing pushback from the U.S. government, according to newly unsealed court documents.

RMS Titanic Inc., the company that owns exclusive salvage rights to the famous wreck in the North Atlantic, wants to sell the artifacts for the first time despite previous agreements to only display them at museums and traveling exhibitions.

Georgia-based RMS Titanic proposed auctioning the artifacts and displaying them on a global tour in four cities, although those locations haven’t been publicly revealed. Court documents filed in the U.S. referenced the company’s plan to sell artifacts including a bronze cherub, a necklace of gold nuggets and a heart-shaped pendant.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration represents U.S. interests and oversight in the wreck site. The agency contends such a sale would violate RMS Titanic’s legal obligations to the site, according to documents a judge ordered unsealed earlier this month.

In arguing that the auction should be prohibited, the government wrote that the company “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.

Representatives for RMS Titanic did not respond to requests for comment Monday. Its attorneys previously said in a federal court filing that the proposed auction arrangement wouldn’t violate existing court orders and agreements about the artifacts.

This is the latest attempt to sell Titanic artifacts

Since 1987, salvage operations have retrieved thousands of items and even chunks of the Titanic’s hull. RMS Titanic makes money by exhibiting them.

Over the decades, the company has tried to sell artifacts to fund future explorations and as it faced financial trouble. But those efforts were roundly opposed by U.S. courts along with preservation groups and relatives of the victims. Some of the salvaged items belonged to passengers aboard the ship.

However, items saved by survivors or plucked from the water by rescuers can be sold and often fetch big sums. A life jacket worn by a passenger went for just over US$900,000 in April, while a gold pocket watch given to the ship captain who rescued the survivors was sold for nearly $2 million in 2024.

Auctioneers say the unending fascination with the Titanic -- which sank in 1912 after hitting an iceberg on its maiden voyage from Europe to New York, killing more than 1,500 people -- and the rarity of artifacts adds up to high demand and exorbitant prices.

A trans-Atlantic dispute over the artifacts

RMS Titanic wants to auction some of the first artifacts salvaged from the wreck. Those items were taken to France, which awarded ownership of them to the salvager. French oceanographic institute IFREMER partnered with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on the discovery of the wreck.

The rest of the collection was retrieved during subsequent expeditions, and the salvage claim was made in a U.S. District Court in Norfolk, Virginia.

NOAA argues that all of the roughly 5,000 items -- regardless of whether they were claimed in France or the U.S. -- must remain in one collection based on conditions set by the U.S. court. NOAA also maintains on its website that a French court’s conditions required that the artifacts not be sold individually and be kept together as a single collection.

The company has argued, among other things, that the U.S. court lacks jurisdiction over the items claimed in France.

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

Pieces of history for all to see

Some undersea explorers have pushed back at the idea of selling Titanic artifacts, which they argue should be displayed in the public interest.

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

Richard Daynard, a law professor at Northeastern University School of Law in Boston who specializes in public interest advocacy, said rules on the display and sale of Titanic artifacts are intended to preserve the wreckage for the benefit of the public, and so it can’t be “picked up by billionaires for further display of their wealth and power.”

“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.

Patrick Whittle And John Seewer, The Associated Press