piratediver
Sr. Member
Judge's decision to keep Titanic remains on seabed
12:42PM Wednesday Mar 25, 2009
NORFOLK, Virginia - Nearly a century after the Titanic struck ice in the
North Atlantic, a federal judge in Virginia is poised to preserve the
largest collection of artifacts from the opulent oceanliner and protect the
ship's resting place.
US District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith, a maritime jurist who considers the
wreck an "international treasure," is expected to rule within weeks that the
salvaged items must remain together and accessible to the public. That would
ensure the 5,900 pieces of china, ship fittings and personal belongings
won't end up in a collector's hands or in a London auction house, where some
Titanic artifacts have landed.
The judgment could also end the legal tussle that began when a team of
deep-sea explorers found the world's most famous shipwreck in 1985.
The salvage company, RMS Titanic Inc., wants the court to grant it limited
ownership of the artifacts.
At the same time, a cadre of government lawyers is helping Smith shape
covenants to strictly monitor future activity at the Titanic wreck 2 1/2
miles (4 kilometers) beneath the surface of the Atlantic. Amid evidence of
the ship's deterioration, experts and government lawyers say the sanctity of
the Titanic must be properly protected as a memorial to the 1,522 people who
died when it went down.
For the most part, the value of Titanic is its history - and not from some
pile of gold, silver and jewels," said Ole Varmer, an attorney in the
international law office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, a US government agency that has developed guidelines for the
Titanic.
Because the Titanic sank in international waters on April 15, 1912, and the
ship's owners are long gone, the wreck site and its artifacts have been
subject to competing legal claims since an international team led by
oceanographer Robert Ballard found it 24 years ago. The courtroom survivor
is RMS Titanic Inc., also known as RMST, which gathered the artifacts during
six dives. Courts have declared it salvor-in-possession - meaning it has
exclusive rights to salvage the Titanic - but have explicitly stated it does
not own the 5,900 artifacts or the wreck itself.
RMST is a subsidiary of Premier Exhibitions Inc., an Atlanta company that
bills itself as "a major provider of museum-quality touring exhibitions."
Its offerings include sports memorabilia, a traveling Star Trek homage and
"Bodies," an anatomy exhibit featuring preserved human cadavers.
RMST conducts traveling displays of the Titanic artifacts, which the company
says have been viewed by 33 million people worldwide.
Last month, RMST underwent a shakeup of its board and saw its director
resign over the company's poor financial performance, according to Premier
Exhibitions filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and
statements by dissident shareholders. Smith had expressed concerns before
the board shakeup about RMST's ability to continue properly managing the
collection, considering the company's financial situation.
No one familiar with the case or the artifacts has questioned RMST's
handling of them.
RMST is seeking limited ownership of the artifacts as compensation for its
salvage efforts. In its court filing for a salvage award, the company put
the fair market value of the collection at $110.9 million. The same filing
states that RMST's costs associated with the recovery and conservation of
the artifacts have exceeded revenues from their display.
If the court agrees to RMST's request, the company could sell the entire
collection to a museum with court approval.
Robert W. McFarland, an attorney for RMST, declined to comment before Smith
rules.
Smith is drawing upon the State Department and the government oceanic agency
to help craft the covenants to keep the artifacts preserved, intact as a
collection and available to the public, and to guide future salvage
operations at the Titanic wreck by RMST. At a hearing in November, the
no-nonsense judge made clear the stakes.
"I am concerned that the Titanic is not only a national treasure, but in its
own way an international treasure, and it needs protection and it needs to
be monitored," the judge told lawyers in the case.
Congress has expressed its interest in preserving the Titanic as a memorial.
US lawmakers have not, however, implemented an agreement with the United
Kingdom, which has already embraced a ban on unregulated salvage of the
wreck.
J. Ashley Roach, a retired State Department lawyer who worked on the Titanic
case, said the Titanic is the first major shipwreck in international waters
to receive such close scrutiny.
"You have a domestic court and now the branches of government working
together to make sure the wreck itself continues to be available in the
future for the public good," he said.
International protections have been sought for the Titanic almost since the
wreck was discovered. Ballard, who led the team that found the ship, told a
congressional hearing in October 1985:
"Titanic is like a great pyramid which has been found and mankind is about
to enter it for the first time since it was sealed. Has he come to plunder
or appreciate? The people of the world clearly want the latter."
- AP
Pirate Diver
12:42PM Wednesday Mar 25, 2009
NORFOLK, Virginia - Nearly a century after the Titanic struck ice in the
North Atlantic, a federal judge in Virginia is poised to preserve the
largest collection of artifacts from the opulent oceanliner and protect the
ship's resting place.
US District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith, a maritime jurist who considers the
wreck an "international treasure," is expected to rule within weeks that the
salvaged items must remain together and accessible to the public. That would
ensure the 5,900 pieces of china, ship fittings and personal belongings
won't end up in a collector's hands or in a London auction house, where some
Titanic artifacts have landed.
The judgment could also end the legal tussle that began when a team of
deep-sea explorers found the world's most famous shipwreck in 1985.
The salvage company, RMS Titanic Inc., wants the court to grant it limited
ownership of the artifacts.
At the same time, a cadre of government lawyers is helping Smith shape
covenants to strictly monitor future activity at the Titanic wreck 2 1/2
miles (4 kilometers) beneath the surface of the Atlantic. Amid evidence of
the ship's deterioration, experts and government lawyers say the sanctity of
the Titanic must be properly protected as a memorial to the 1,522 people who
died when it went down.
For the most part, the value of Titanic is its history - and not from some
pile of gold, silver and jewels," said Ole Varmer, an attorney in the
international law office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, a US government agency that has developed guidelines for the
Titanic.
Because the Titanic sank in international waters on April 15, 1912, and the
ship's owners are long gone, the wreck site and its artifacts have been
subject to competing legal claims since an international team led by
oceanographer Robert Ballard found it 24 years ago. The courtroom survivor
is RMS Titanic Inc., also known as RMST, which gathered the artifacts during
six dives. Courts have declared it salvor-in-possession - meaning it has
exclusive rights to salvage the Titanic - but have explicitly stated it does
not own the 5,900 artifacts or the wreck itself.
RMST is a subsidiary of Premier Exhibitions Inc., an Atlanta company that
bills itself as "a major provider of museum-quality touring exhibitions."
Its offerings include sports memorabilia, a traveling Star Trek homage and
"Bodies," an anatomy exhibit featuring preserved human cadavers.
RMST conducts traveling displays of the Titanic artifacts, which the company
says have been viewed by 33 million people worldwide.
Last month, RMST underwent a shakeup of its board and saw its director
resign over the company's poor financial performance, according to Premier
Exhibitions filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and
statements by dissident shareholders. Smith had expressed concerns before
the board shakeup about RMST's ability to continue properly managing the
collection, considering the company's financial situation.
No one familiar with the case or the artifacts has questioned RMST's
handling of them.
RMST is seeking limited ownership of the artifacts as compensation for its
salvage efforts. In its court filing for a salvage award, the company put
the fair market value of the collection at $110.9 million. The same filing
states that RMST's costs associated with the recovery and conservation of
the artifacts have exceeded revenues from their display.
If the court agrees to RMST's request, the company could sell the entire
collection to a museum with court approval.
Robert W. McFarland, an attorney for RMST, declined to comment before Smith
rules.
Smith is drawing upon the State Department and the government oceanic agency
to help craft the covenants to keep the artifacts preserved, intact as a
collection and available to the public, and to guide future salvage
operations at the Titanic wreck by RMST. At a hearing in November, the
no-nonsense judge made clear the stakes.
"I am concerned that the Titanic is not only a national treasure, but in its
own way an international treasure, and it needs protection and it needs to
be monitored," the judge told lawyers in the case.
Congress has expressed its interest in preserving the Titanic as a memorial.
US lawmakers have not, however, implemented an agreement with the United
Kingdom, which has already embraced a ban on unregulated salvage of the
wreck.
J. Ashley Roach, a retired State Department lawyer who worked on the Titanic
case, said the Titanic is the first major shipwreck in international waters
to receive such close scrutiny.
"You have a domestic court and now the branches of government working
together to make sure the wreck itself continues to be available in the
future for the public good," he said.
International protections have been sought for the Titanic almost since the
wreck was discovered. Ballard, who led the team that found the ship, told a
congressional hearing in October 1985:
"Titanic is like a great pyramid which has been found and mankind is about
to enter it for the first time since it was sealed. Has he come to plunder
or appreciate? The people of the world clearly want the latter."
- AP
Pirate Diver
![:-\](https://www.treasurenet.com/smilies/undecided.gif "Undecided :-\")
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