A plan to auction more than 100 artifacts salvaged from the wreckage of the Titanic is facing pushback from the U.S. government. RMS Titanic Inc., the company that owns exclusive salvage rights to the famous wreck in the North Atlantic, wants to sell artifacts for the first time despite previous agreements to only display them at museums and traveling exhibitions.

Government Opposition

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration represents U.S. interests and oversight in the wreck site. The agency contends such a sale would violate RMS Titanic’s legal obligations to the site. The company has proposed auctioning the artifacts and displaying them on a global exhibition tour in four cities, although those locations haven’t been publicly revealed.

Court documents filed in the U.S. referenced the Georgia-based company’s plan to sell artifacts including a bronze cherub, a necklace of gold nuggets and a heart-shaped pendant. Representatives for RMS Titanic did not respond to requests for comment on Monday. Its attorneys previously said in a federal court filing that the proposed auction arrangement wouldn’t violate existing court orders and agreements about the artifacts.

Preservation Concerns

Since 1987, the company has retrieved thousands of items and even chunks of the Titanic’s hull. It makes money by exhibiting them. However, items saved by survivors or plucked from the water by rescuers can be sold and often fetch big sums. Auctioneers say the unending fascination with the Titanic and the rarity of artifacts adds up to high demand and exorbitant prices.

Opponents of selling artifacts recovered from the wreckage say the company is bound by a 1990s agreement that gave RMS Titanic exclusive salvage rights to the ship in exchange for promising to never sell those items. Undersea explorers have sometimes pushed back at the idea of selling Titanic artifacts, which they argue should be displayed in the public interest.

Original reporting: Dallas TX News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.