politics
RMS Titanic Inc Notifies Court of Plan to Auction 100 Artifacts from 1987 French Collection
The company that holds more than 5,000 artefacts from the Titanic wreck notified a Virginia court in March of plans to sell items recovered in 1987, prompting opposition from archaeologists and heritage groups. Judge Rebecca Beach Smith rejected the firm's attempt to seal the filing.
The TimesAudio version
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RMS Titanic Inc notified Judge Rebecca Beach Smith in a March report of its intent to auction approximately 100 artefacts from the French Collection recovered during a 1987 Franco-American dive to the Titanic wreck. The company sought to keep the filing sealed, arguing it contained highly sensitive, non-public, proprietary business and financial information.
In an April order Judge Rebecca Beach Smith ruled against sealing the document, stating it was of particular concern that RMST seeks to seal the fact of its communicated intent to auction the items.
The proposal has drawn strong objections from archaeologists and maritime heritage organisations. Cathy Green, president of the National Maritime Historical Society, stated: “The Titanic occupies a singular place in global maritime history. ” Chris Underwood, president of the International Committee on Underwater Cultural Heritage, said the French government assigned the 1987 artefacts to RMS Titanic Inc's predecessor on the understanding that they would not be sold.
Underwood added that dispersal of the French Collection will contravene one of the fundamental articles of the Unesco convention on underwater cultural heritage against cultural exploitation. Jeneva Wright, chair of the Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology, asked the court to deny the sale and suggested that the judge place the Titanic collections under the curation of an accredited museum.
Dave Parham, professor of archaeology at Bournemouth University and chair of Britain’s Joint Nautical Archaeology Policy Committee, was alerted to the potential sale by people in the game and stated that if the auction proceeds it would be seen by some as a gateway to being allowed to loot and exploit other sites of heritage around the world.
