Just months after the OceanGate submersible tragedy that resulted in the death of five passengers, a company is planning a new expedition down to the famed Titanic wreckage.
In a move that's raising eyebrows and triggering legal debates, a new expedition to visit the ill-fated Titanic wreckage reportedly in the works, per Sky News.
This announcement comes just months after a tragic incident took the lives of five individuals during a submarine voyage to the same site.
RMS Titanic Inc (RMST), the company holding salvage rights to the wreckage, is organizing the trip with the aim of recovering historical artifacts. However, the US government is actively trying to halt this mission.
"RMST is not free to disregard this validly enacted federal law, yet that is its stated intent," argue US lawyers in recently filed court documents, via Metro. Many believe that the Titanic's final resting place is not being honored as a memorial to the more than 1,500 lives lost at sea, as per a prior agreement with the UK.
The planned adventure comes just two months after the tragic incident of the Titan submersible expedition, which imploded while attempting to see the wreckage of the famed passenger liner.
British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding, French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, his 19-year-old son Suleman, and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush all died following the catastrophic implosion.
Their vessel's debris was discovered near the Titanic's bow just five days after setting off on June 18.
The mission, tentatively slated for May 2024 according to a court report RMST filed in June, aims to capture comprehensive images of the wreck and recover artifacts. These could include "objects from inside the Marconi room, but only if such objects are not affixed to the wreck itself," as RMST clarified.
The company assures it does not intend to "cut into the wreck or detach any part of the wreck," but rather plans to explore "inside the wreck where deterioration has opened chasms sufficient to permit a remotely operated vehicle to penetrate the hull."
Despite RMST's stated intention to "work collaboratively" with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the company has no plans to seek an official permit. This drew further scrutiny from US government lawyers, who claim RMST must gain approval from the US Secretary of Commerce, who oversees NOAA.
"RMST is not free to disregard this validly enacted federal law, yet that is its stated intent," court documents filed on Friday stated. The shipwreck "will be deprived of the protections Congress granted it," US government lawyers have argued.
The expedition also comes after family members of individuals lost on the Titanic have called for the wreckage to no longer be a tourist attraction.