NORFOLK — A federal admiralty court in Virginia has canceled a Friday hearing to discuss a contested expedition to the Titanic after the salvage firm scaled back its dive plans. But a looming court battle over the 2024 mission is not over yet.
RMST Titanic Inc. owns the salvage rights to the world’s most famous shipwreck. It originally planned to possibly retrieve artifacts from inside the Titanic’s hull, informing the court of its intentions in June.
In August, the U.S. government filed a motion to intervene, arguing that the court should stop the expedition. U.S. attorneys cited a 2017 federal law and an agreement with Great Britain to restrict entry into the Titanic’s hull because it’s considered a grave site.
Lawyers on each side of the case were set to discuss the matter Friday before a U.S. District Judge in Norfolk who oversees Titanic salvage matters.
But the company said this week that it no longer planned to retrieve artifacts or do anything else that might involve the 2017 law. RMST is now opposing the government’s motion to intervene as a party in its salvage case before the admiralty court.
Read the full story in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
