Judge Rejects Sale of Titanic Relics Amid Preservation Concerns

(MENAFN) A US federal judge has halted plans to auction off more than 100 artifacts recovered from the wreck of the Titanic, siding with the US government and preservationists who had raised concerns over the proposed sale and the upkeep of the historic collection, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith, sitting in Norfolk, Virginia, ruled Monday that the auction must be paused. She dismissed an argument from RMS Titanic, the company holding exclusive salvage rights to the wreck, that the artifacts fell outside the court's jurisdiction, according to the Post.

Smith said any sale of the items would first need court approval, and voiced concern over the condition of RMS Titanic's collection, citing the company's financial troubles. She ordered the firm to submit an inventory of the artifacts along with details on their condition, the report said.

RMS Titanic had proposed auctioning off more than 100 items recovered during a deep-sea expedition decades earlier — a collection that includes gem-studded jewelry, tableware, and a bronze cherub that once adorned the Titanic's grand staircase.

The planned auction drew opposition from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, along with historians and archaeologists who argued the artifacts should be kept intact and preserved as a single collection. The French government also objected to the sale, having participated in the expedition that recovered some of the items.

The Titanic sank in the North Atlantic in April 1912 after striking an iceberg during its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York, a disaster that claimed more than 1,500 lives.

MENAFN26082026000045017169ID1111581750