RUST IN PEACE, TITANIC
International deal ensures wreck will be protected
‘The wreck still has a great deal to tell us’
ITS rusting remains have been picked over by divers and submersibles since its resting place was discovered in 1985.
But the wreck of the Titanic has finally gained legal protection on behalf of more than 1,500 passengers and crew who lost their lives.
A deal hailed by historians as a major breakthrough gives the UK and the US power to grant or deny licences to private companies who want to explore the sunken ship’s hull and remove artefacts.
Experts say that while some areas of the vessel have already been thoroughly picked over, large parts could become accessible for the first time due to the development of remote-controlled mini-submarines.
The long-overdue announcement comes after divers who made the first manned voyage in 14 years to the sunken liner 13,200ft below the surface of the Atlantic said they were ‘shocked’ by the deterioration of the wreck.
Salt corrosion and metal-eating bacteria have also worn away parts of her structure which, based on some predictions, will have disintegrated within 80 years.
Although the liner has previously been given a ‘basic level of protection’ by Unesco, the United Nations’ cultural arm, this is the first time it is covered by explicit legislation in this country.
The UK signed the treaty in 2003, but it has only come into force following its ratification by US secretary of state Mike Pompeo in November last year.
Historian Tim Maltin, author of several books on the Titanic, said: ‘Everyone who cares about the wreck and those who lost their lives will welcome this agreement. In the past, many private expeditions have gone down to the wreck and removed artefacts of potentially great archaeological significance. The wreck still has a great deal to tell us about why the Titanic sank.’
Dr Josh Martin, a law lecturer at Exeter University and expert on the Titanic, added: ‘The wreck of the Titanic still has the power to capture the imagination, but until now its location in international waters has meant it has been very hard to protect it. Now this agreement means objects can’t be removed unless it’s for good reason.’ The announcement will be made today in Belfast, where the liner was built, by British maritime minister Nusrat Ghani.
‘Lying two-and-a-half miles below the ocean surface, the RMS Titanic is the subject of the most documented maritime tragedy in history,’ she will say. ‘This momentous agreement with the United States to preserve the wreck means it will be treated with the sensitivity and respect owed to the final resting place of more than 1,500 lives.’
Judith Owens, of Titanic Belfast, added: ‘We welcome any additional protection...of the wreck in line with the views of our strategic partner Dr Robert Ballard, who discovered her in 1985.’