US government seeking legal means to block expedition to Titanic site

New York: More than a century after the British liner Titanic sank in North Atlantic, its wreckage lying two miles below is back in limelight for reasons including ‘planned expedition’ to the site.

Only weeks ago Titanic hogged media reports after five men aboard a submarine visiting the historic wreckage died following implosion.

Now the US government is looking forward to prevent a planned expedition next year aiming at recovering artefacts from vessel’s wreck.

The government is set to prevent the expedition because as per a federal law and international pact ‘the shipwreck as a revered burial site’, NDTV reported citing The New York Times.

RMS Titanic Inc. (RMST), a Georgia based company having salvage rights to well-known shipwreck around the world, is planning the expedition.

The company puts on display artefacts ranging from silverware to a portion of the Titanic's hull previously retrieved from the North Atlantic.

The US government is looking forward to stop expedition next year as well as considering legal action for control over artefacts from the shipwreck, according to the report.

Titan submersible expedition on June 18 to the North Atlantic, which ended up in disaster, raised questions regarding the rights to access the remains of the ship.

The US government is looking forward to become a party to the salvage case thus blocking any ‘objectionable’ expedition to the site.

The British passenger liner RMS Titanic was on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York in 1912 when it sank after colliding with an iceberg.

More than 1,500 of the 2,208 passengers and crew died in the mishap.