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Subscribe to RSSOne century after the Titanic sank during its maiden voyage, the historic day is being commemorated around the world. NBC's Stephanie Gosk reports.
Negotiations to decide the fate of a $189 million collection of artifacts from the Titanic are going into overtime.
Atlanta-based Premier Exhibitions, which is seeking to sell 5,500 items recovered from the shipwreck site over the past 25 years, said today that it's "in discussions with multiple parties" for the purchase of the collection. The legal rulings that paved the way for the sale require that the collection must be sold as a single lot — and that the buyer must make the artifacts available for public exhibition and research.
The deadline for sealed bids passed more than a week ago, and since then Premier Exhibitions has been weighing the offers.
"In order for the company to settle on the most appropriate bidder and maximize the ultimate value of the artifacts for shareholders, it conduct these negotiations and due diligence in confidence," Premier said in a statement. The company said it would "provide an additional update to shareholders as soon as practical," and would reschedule a news conference that had been planned for Wednesday to announce the winning bid.
Premier's subsidiary, RMS Titanic Inc., is the only company with legal permission to recover objects from the Titanic, which ran into an iceberg and sank on April 15, 1912, during its maiden trans-Atlantic voyage from Southampton to New York. More than 1,500 of the ship's 2,228 passengers and crew lost their lives in the disaster. The 100th anniversary of the tragedy is boosting interest in the Titanic to new heights.
In addition to the physical artifacts, RMS Titanic has been collecting data and high-resolution imagery of the wreck site, two miles beneath the Atlantic surface. Its most recent expedition took place in 2010. The archaeological assets, including underwater video and 3-D mapping, are among the property being sold.
"Titanic is slowly being consumed by iron-eating microbes on the sea floor and, at some point in the not-too-distant future, it will be only a memory," Mark Sellers, chairman of Premier and RMS Titanic, said back in January. "We are proud of what we have accomplished as salvor-in-possession of the wreck site and we believe we have faithfully honored the legacy of those who were lost. After all those efforts, we have determined that the time has come for us to transfer ownership of this collection to a steward who is able to continue our efforts and will preserve and honor her legacy."
Actually, three major Titanic auctions are taking place this month. In addition to the Premier Exhibitions sale, which is being managed by Guernsey's auction house, there's a Bonhams auction set for Sunday in New York, and an RR Auction online sale due to begin April 19. Last month, the highlight of a London auction was the sale of a first-class menu from the Titanic's last lunch for $120,000.
Ben Stansall / AFP - Getty Images
A wreath floats in berths 43/44, the place from which the RMS Titanic set sail on its ill-fated maiden voyage 100 years ago, during a ceremony at Southampton's docks on April 10, 2012.
It's not clear whether any more artifacts will ever be brought up from the Titanic site. Beginning on the 100th anniversary of the sinking, the remains of the Titanic will be covered by a 2001 U.N. convention on the protection of underwater cultural heritage. In a statement issued last week, UNESCO said parties to the convention can seize artifacts taken from the Titanic, and prevent exploration of the site that is "deemed unscientific or unethical."
Neither the United States nor Canada are parties to that convention. However, UNESCO said the protections specified in the convention are also reflected in an international agreement on Titanic salvage that was signed by those two countries as well as France and Britain.
One of the most outspoken critics of Titanic salvaging has been oceanographer Robert Ballard, who was one of the co-discoverers of the Titanic wreck site in 1985. He has long said that if he could do it all over again, he would not publicize the location of the wreck, and today on NPR's "Talk of the Nation," he said he now wishes he claimed the site for himself.
"When I found the Titanic, I went to the courts, and I said, 'Well, can I own the Titanic?' And they said, yes. It's an abandoned shipwreck. All you have to do is go down and retrieve one object of saucer or plate or something, come into the courts, and we'll make you the owner. But we'll make you the owner under one condition, that you remove it from the bottom of the ocean. ... I was opposed to that. I wished I'd gone and got that one cup and brought it up and said, 'I want to turn it into an underwater museum.' I'd rather take people there through the technologies we now have, and I really regret I didn't do that."
In retrospect, do you think that would have been the better course? Feel free to weigh in with your thoughts about the fate of Titanic artifacts in the comment space below.
More about the Titanic:
- Titanic cruise diverted due to medical emergency
- Ship leaves NYC to visit Titanic graves in Canada
- Astrophysicist gets 'Titanic' director to tweak the sky
- 10 reasons for the Titanic tragedy
- Titanic's legacy: a fascination with disasters
- New images of Titanic shipwreck revealed
- PhotoBlog: More amazing pictures from the site
- Events mark 100th anniversary of Titanic's sinking
- Slideshow: Titanic Belfast museum makes debut
- Cosmic Log archive on the Titanic
Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter or adding Cosmic Log's Google+ page to your circle. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for other worlds.
Leave a Comment:
If you really care about "preserving the memory" and such, then bring up everything you can. If left there, the sea will eat it and nothing will be left. I think the hand-wringers are so full of themselves that they can't be trusted. For example, do you think the UN has shown any ability to make an intelligent call about anything? Why would they all of a sudden be able to preserve any Titanic items? Ballard is just jealous others can see "his" ship.
It would of been found by someone else had ballrd not given the location but since he did find it his ego had to tell the world, i mean of course! you found what was lost and it's the titanic!! anyone would of said they found it!!
I don't know why he was so dumb not to claim it, they said he would htne have to remove it from the ocean.... back then impossible to bring up both halfs of the ship and anything else left rotting on the sea floor...
Now? we could raise the titanic and i believe we should.
Only sentimental fools think that is they're grave siutes, it is in some sick way.
in fact nobody wanted to die that night or there AT ALL!!!
they all hoped for help that didn't come and they all died.
if only the california came and the stupid captain care more about his sleep that night, everyone would of survived. or perhaps better people wtching out for ice burgs.. how could u not see them way high up in the corws nest is beyond me.
i would of seen it coming. who says they didn't wait to ring that bell and decided to play chicken a bit before ringing it? ya think they would admit it after what happened? clear night, still waters and no moon or not? ya would of seen the iceburg in time only going about 30 miles an hour..
who really knows what sank the titanic.. man or ice or both..
the captian to blame... the warnings to them from the california...they failed to listen to.. not slowing down..... you coulkd blame alot of people..
but the one thing everyone on titanic waited for? was for somone to come get them,save them... i say to raise the ship itself would be the greatest honor to them to finally come and bring her up and go get them.
preserve the ship and the memory of the people who died on her.
it will be ornage dust in the end and a stain on the sea floor...
so what is t5he difference? it will be gone.
or? we can bring her up and let her ive and preserve it and preerve the memory of those who died on her... put it in it's own museum along with all the artifacts....
it makes little sence to let it rot to an ornage dust clump.
nobody will dive down there anymore with nothing to really see.
the ship is in two pieces, so it's much easier to bring up both sections seperate
then if it were whole... HOW? well take a few lessons from the movie raise the titanic and how they did it, but also using giant cranes on navy ships to help lift it... exsplosives... and fill her up with foam... giant balloons....anything to raise her up and tow her into new york to finish the journeyt she set out to make..
not breaking any records.. perhaps the slowest transit in history...
it can be done... we can get subs down there, all of this can be done.
sure we have plenty of pictures and we even have james camerons documentary of him going inside the titanic with little robots to show us inside!
what a film that is.. but we won't have titanic anymore and she has become a real thing now.... we are letting her rot.
at the very least they could be going down there to clean her up of all that barnical crap thats eating her alive!!
I SAY RAISE THE TITANIC!!!!
wht greter feet and adventure could man have keft to do and prove?
we been to space and the moon... let's see if we can bring her up!!
now that would be great reality tv!!!!
and a great honor to bring them all home, all they're souls.
they finally came and got us! set them free, rescued....
not forgotten.....
it's a crime to let it rot to nothing..
all survivors they say are now dead now, when again they are wrong!!!!
There are plenty of survivors left.. for the ones who did survive in 1912?
had babies... and more kids... and decedants of survivors still remain and would not be here unless the original survivors survived..
the next generation of titanic survivors are here still and so on and so on..
a blood line of titanic survivors exist.... they too survived or they would not be here had everyone died that night!
they count to in the end......
RAISE
THE
TITANIC
CaseandPoint, have you ever spent time in the North Atlantic in spring? Seen an iceburgh? I have, and given the conditions that night I can easily see why it wasn't spotted. As far as Captain Smith, you are right in that he ignored ice warnings, but it was at the "suggestion" of the cowardly shipping line rep on board, Mr. Ismay (sp?). He later jumped in to a lifeboat meant for women and children and saved his own cowardly life. But why do you blame the captains sleeping habits? They were following a watch cycle, and even a captain must sleep. As for raising the Titanic...even with todays technology the odds are slim the wreck would survive to make it to the surface. A tiny, tiny part of me would love to see her, she's been a life long obsession for me. But it IS a grave. Even had the life boats been filled to true capacity it would have been a massive loss of life. There simply weren't enough. The davits were built to hold double the number of lifeboats but the cruise line felt they took up valuable deck space and drew from the aesthetics of the ship. As much as I'd love to see her...no...let those poor souls rest.
caseandpoint, The Titanic cannot be raised. The ship is broken into and has deteriorated beyond anyones ability to raise anything more than a piece at a time. And just for the record, ALL of the SURVIVORS are now dead. Their decendents may live on, but the actual survivors are all gone.
RIP Titanic!
C&P - as two others have said, the Titanic cannot be raised. It is far too corroded with "rusticles" which are the remnants of iron-eating bacteria. Have you ever poked a hole in a rusty piece of steel like on an old car? That's what you would be up against, and down at a pressure equal to 6,500 pounds per square inch.
The great ship is only a couple more decades of completely collapsing as it's structure completes the journey returning to where it came from - earth. One hundred years from now the only remnants on the ocean floor will be mounds of rusticles, glassware, bottles, and dishes, brass, bronze (including the propellers), any precious metals, and maybe some clothing artifacts...all from inside the ship since those artifacts still inside the ship cannot be taken under international law. And keep in mind the site IS a graveyard. You seem to have forgotten that.
There's nothing we can do about it. Maybe 50 years ago the ship possibly could have still been in good enough condition to raise, but we didn't have the technology to do it.
I have a firm belief that this is grave robbing. It should be respected as one. I can understand archeology but this is for profit not for studying of any ancient civilization. This is sad and tragic and if anyone should profit from this all proceeds should be split by the living family members that died not greedy companies.
It should remain in the sea, and the site should be a memorial site. Not a grave digging site for the rich to pick the dead bones of these people clean.
I'm appalled at how people have lost the respect for the dead.
RIP to all the Titanic people.
It seems to me that one important aspect is being lost in the conversation and in the locating of other ships that have sunk. It's called Maritime Law. The one who finds the wreckage has the right to recover what he/she finds. True, this may be a matter of taking advantage of a tragedy that has occurred, but this is something that has existed for hundreds of years. The fact that governments can dictate what goes on in International Waters is just wrong. It takes time and money to locate ships that have been lost and those who do find them, do deserve to be rewarded for their efforts. If people were so concerned about their families personal belongings then perhaps they should have gone through the time, hazards, and expense of finding and recovering the items. All this is, is someone taking advantage of another person's work. It's just like someone claiming mining rights or an oil claim. Those who choose this as a job/profession deserve to be compensated by getting what they find, plain and simple. Some of these ships have been in the ocean/seas for hundreds of years and governments and people had the same opportunity to do the same in trying to locate these lost vessels and recovering the items on board. I guess what I'm trying to say bottom line is finders, keepers. It's international waters and the only way anyone else should get anything is if they buy it from those who went through the efforts and dangers associated with locating and recovering the items.
Finally the UN is taking on a challenge that it can handle.........it is going to watch something fade away.
I don't feel anyone should profit from this. It's a tragedy like any other and if any one of the the posters' here would have had family members on board that died they would feel that they should have been entitled to what ever artifact that could be identified as belonging to their ancestor. Instead things are being brought up and kept as if they are part of a lost and found, at the very least it all should be set up as a donation to a traveling museum collection so everyone could get a chance to see it.
Nothing should have been brought back up except for that needed for scientific research. The Titanic is a grave site and should be left exactly as is! It is illegal to disturb sunken warships and aircraft. Why not civilian maritime sinkings as well? The only things at work here are avarice and greed.
We have honored the tragedy of the sinking of the Titanic for the past 100 years in almost every conceivable way. Now, it is time to retrieve whatever remains of the artifacts, through international cooperation, for the purpose of establishing a permanent site for all future generations. As the international community came to the aid of Egypt in relocating the great monuments of their great civilizations when the Aswan Dam was built, so the international community should cooperate to make all of the possible artifacts of the Titanic to be retrieved and put on display. No other honor could be greater than to preserve the memory of the victims.
Then I suppose it's ok now to dig up the dead and pick their bones clean too if they are over a 100 yo too.
Give me an effen break.
ships property, selling that, ok..personal artifacts should be traced to descendants today if possible..
There are plenty of Titanic-related artifacts available for display. As Bob Ballard succinctly put, "you don't go to Gettysburg and bring a shovel." Or put in modern terms, you wouldn't go to the World Trade Center and start digging for artifacts. Why is this so difficult for folks to understand?!
People go to Gettysburg and trample all over the ground where thousands died.While they may not bring shovels they desecrate the "hallowed"ground all the time.Ballard needs to find another comparison and leave Gettysburg out of his reasoning.
They should get all the items and put them in a museum so everyone can look at them instead of splitting them up between different people and never see them again. Its all about being greedy these days with these people
The Titanic has never fascinated me! As far as I'm concerned it's time to stop even mentioning anything about the Titanic! Filming the first movie was OK. The filming of the remake was ridiculous! Then Another remake and then the 3-D remake were both again ridiculous. The sinking of the Titanic was a tragedy! Remember it as a part of history and then leave it alone!
Who the hell cares? It is in international waters and anyone who wants to go down there should be able to take what they want. I am sure Russia and China and other nations could care less what we or anyone else says about some law saying they can't go down there and take a cup or saucer if they feel like it. Finders keepers is the old saying.
WHY do we need to raise anything. Its a grave sight. I bet the people raiding the sight would also raid a cemetary if there was a way to get rich. Thats all this is, a way for people to get rich over a tragedy. ALL of the artifacts should be split with the families of the dead passengers NOT THE RAIDERS
How would this be any different than archaeologists excavating a 2000 year old village or grave site(s)? If you want to be respectful of the victims of Titanic, leave any personal artifacts on the sea floor. Beyond that, bring everything up you can carry... and immortalize it in PUBLIC museums. What better way to honor those who perished that night? Just leaving it on the sea floor only to eventually be covered by sediment serves what purpose exactly? Physically seeing items from Titanic would give anyone who sees it an appreciation for the gravity and scope of the tragedy... it would be chilling. Make it seem more real than just a big budget movie.
The reasoning for this is there are still families living that remember these people. They were loved ones. How would you like it if we went to your grandmothers grave and stole her wedding bands from her hand?
That is why I said to leave personal effects down there Traci... Try reading the post before you comment. Or is this a comprehension issue? Dork... lol
Ancestors of the people who lost their lives on the Titanic should have first dibs on any personal effects. The decision was made to desecrate a gravesite by the greedy so if the artifacts aren't returned to their undersea location then relatives own what is brought up at no cost. Under no circumstance should any item or lot of items be up for auction or sale unless the rightful owner does the selling after the item first passes back to them and through their hands.
I can see ballards point but I also see salvaging items. We may never be able to see these items and the sea may swallow them.
I tend to feel that the raising of the Titanic would end up in failure. She is already badly deteriorated and would never make the surface in good condition. We have to remember she hit the bottom very hard and is internally damaged. I would love to see her break the surface but do not believe it will ever happen. Let her rest in peace, that is the best way we can memorialize her lost souls. I know saying to leave her alone will do no good, every Tom, Dick, Buffy, And Jody will still want a piece. If for no other reason than to say they have one. At least be as respectful as possible in bringing items up. Any very personal items ought to be offered to that victims family before the public.
I think all of it should go to Belfast Ireland because that where it was built and where it launched on its maiden voyage.
It's just old junk. Unless you're in the historical society (which should get 80% of the stuff) or one of the surviving families (which should get the other 20%), it's really just stuff that's gonna turn worthless and rusty if it gets exposed to dust, air, or water. I don't care if it is 100 years old, people auctioning off for it are fools. The only way I'd buy it was if I knew I could live another hundred years and sell it a historical society at great cost. But then I'd have to be immortal, or I'd never get the chance to use the money.
boring
Their Family, and or Museum depending on what it is.
seems to me it is all about money... like most things.. the families should have some part in all this.. and it is part of marine history as well..
My ancestors survived the sinking but their possesions did not. I don't think anyone else can own them. I want them and if you aren't giving them to me then I would like you to leave them where they are.
By right they should be returned to you.
Your ancestors gave up all claim when they did not take any action to recover them, This is the open sea(ocean) and not some cemetary on land where they can claim rights, The people who spent the money and risked their lives to go down and recover these items have all rights to them.
How could they have taken actinto recover them in 1912? Or even in 1970?
If I went to all the trouble and expense and danger of going down after the stuff, when the various governments started trying to tell me what to do with it, I would have taken it back to the site and dumped it overboard, the UN could go get it, just like I did.
Let the ship and the rest of her contents stay exactly where they are. There are enough artifacts that have already been robbed from the sea floor to display and honor those who survived and died on that day. It is a grave site and it should be left alone.
I saw a Titanic exhibit in Atlantic City several years ago. It was both fascinating and sad. There were personal artifacts such as shoes, a suitcase etc. that one could only imagine story of who once owned those belongings. One of the things that sticks out in my mind, was a large tank they had with the same water temperature as the night it sank. You could stick your hand in it and I remember how terribly cold it was. I couldn't comprehend being thrown into such water, waiting to be saved but no one would ever come. I'll never forget it.
You don't care about robbing ancient tombs of its artifacts so what's the difference?
Agree with AZWarrior...bring up not the ship "pieces" but the items used by the passengers such as dishes, cups, even part of the stained glass that appears to still be intact from the Cameron special just aired. Many of the unrecovered dead floated miles away from the site and are resting elsewhere. I realize others were trapped below in 3rd class (and the engineers) and never got out. Seeing actual objects preserved above the water will remind those who view them in the future of the tragedy and causes behind it (human failures) and may prevent in ways we can never know of future tragedies..otherwise, out of sight, out of mind. If an item can be identified as belonging to a specific passenger, it sounds "ideal" to give it to a descendent. However, offspring often are not interested in family history and things would get lost. It is better to try and keep the objects together in groups, whether held by a museum or other institution.
I actually had a relative who survived the Titanic.He was a trimmer in the engine room.As the ship was going down he got stinking drunk and fell overboard and was picked up by lifeboat#4 and survived.Luck of the irish I guess.As far as I am concerned they should salvage anything they can from the site and be done with it.If Ballard wants to erect an underwater monument let him do so.Otherwise what's the point of finding it to begin with?
I just have a hard time understanding why someone would dishonor the ship by wanting to get inside to strip away everything that is not nailed down! That is a grave site, bodies intombed inside! I think it has been o.k. to remove china and such from the debris field but leave the ship alone! It is too fragile to raise and if I had family on there I would be very angry to think someone defiled the grave. I have always been interested in the Titanic but I respect and honor the loss of life and the ship as a grave site.
If there were any way to confirm that any individual item, such as jewelry, belonged to a certain passenger, I would favor returning it to that passenger's family. That is an heirloom they would likely treasure. I wouldn't consider that "grave-robbing"; those victims would likely choose to have their families retain their valuables. I hope some effort is made in this regard before such items are auctioned off. It should be possible to some degree through family photographs etc ( and didn't Ballard or someone recover the pursor's log?)
Stuff such as plates, furnishings, etc I see nothing wrong with salvaging. I hate to see it left to rot on the sea floor, especially if it is a thing of beauty. The ship itself--let it be; it is a tomb and will dissolve in time.
And in time, people will think of the Titanic site as just like the remains of old spanish galleons that are found. The people that were on the ships are no longer though of and the items salvaged are now just curiosities or treasure.
The Titanic was a hoax. It never really happened.
Vegan, time to go back to your padded room for your meds. Play time on the computer is over and adults are talking now!