Legal reason the Titanic wreckage will never be removed from the ocean floor
The 1912 sinking of the Titanic goes down in history as one of the worst maritime disasters of all time, taking up to 1,635 souls down with it. As the Titanic continues to deteriorate on the ocean floor, there are calls for the shipwreck to be raised to preserve it.
While there's even a 1980 movie called Raise the Titanic, there's an important reason the wreck has laid at the bottom of the ocean for the past 112 years and will continue to stay there.
Over on Reddit, people have been asking whether there are plans to raise the Titanic and why it hasn't
One person suggested: "Theres no way to raise the wreck. The wreck is just to fragile at this point. Among many many other reasons. The only thing they could do is cut it up and raise sections and nobody wants that."
Advert
Another added: "I've been hearing this was essentially impossible for...20+ years now. It's far too fragile and at the same time, far too heavy to lift up from those depths. And it's disrespectful - it's a gravesite."
It turns out there's a specific reason the Titanic will remain where it is. It took 73 years for rescue efforts to even locate the Titanic, with a joint US-French expedition eventually discovering it at a depth of 12,500 feet in September 1985.
Not long after the wreck was discovered, the United States’ Congress enacted the RMS Titanic Maritime Memorial Act of 1986.
Although the law allows people to visit the Titanic for “limited exploration activities for the purpose of enhancing public knowledge of Titanic’s scientific, cultural, and historical significance," it prohibits the wreck from being moved.
America and the United Kingdom are among the various countries that signed an international treaty that vows to 'protect the Titanic from commercial salvage.'
The US Department of State reiterates: "The agreement reinforces the United States' collaborative efforts with the United Kingdom and others to preserve the wreck site as an international maritime memorial to the men, women, and children who perished aboard the ship."
This was then backed up by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) passing a resolution to protect Titanic under its own convention in 2012.
It's not that people haven't tried, and after the Titanic was wrecked, families of wealthy victims tried to put plans in place to salvage the wreck.
As early as 1914, Denver architect Charles Smith suggested using electromagnets to locate the wreck, then equip a fleet of barges with the same technology to raise it to the surface.
Other wild ideas have included using dynamite to blast bodies to the surface, nylon balloons to raise the Titanic, and even freezing the wreck as a giant iceberg that could float to the surface.
Unfortunately, practical, technological, and monetary reasons had always prevented the wreck from being raised even before laws were passed.
Although the Titanic Expedition 2024 has spent hundreds of hours surveying the current state of the wreck and given an amazing insight to how well-preserved things are, its future remains in doubt.
The OceanGate Titan submersible disaster has raised concerns about attempted visits to the Titanic, and while scientific research continues, many think other trips should be outlawed.