The U.S. government has ended its lawsuit against the company that holds the exclusive rights to salvage items from the wreckage of the Titanic after the company scaled back its plans, the Independent reports.
The U.S. filed a motion to intervene in a Virginia-based federal admiralty court to prevent RMS Titanic Inc. from carrying out a planned salvage effort that involved taking pictures of the ship's inner hull and taking objects from the debris field that surrounds the wreckage. According to the U.S., entering the hull or disturbing the wreck would be a violation of a 2017 federal law and an agreement with the government of Great Britain.
The company eventually withdrew its plans to enter the hull and told the court in December that it has no plans to explore the wreck in 2025 and has yet to decide on future expeditions, saying it would "diligently consider the strategic, legal, and financial implications of conducting future salvage operations at the site."
The U.S. withdrew its motion after the company decided not to enter the hub and to take images of only the exterior, though it noted in its filing that, "should future circumstances warrant, the United States will file a new motion to intervene based on the facts then existing."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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