A U.S. federal judge has blocked plans to auction more than 100 artifacts recovered from the wreck of the Titanic, siding with the U.S. government and preservationists who raised concerns about the proposed sale and the care of the historic collection, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.
District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith in Norfolk, Virginia ruled Monday that the auction must be put on hold. She rejected an argument by RMS Titanic, the company that holds exclusive salvage rights to the wreck, that the artifacts were outside the court’s jurisdiction, the Post said.
Smith said any sale of the artifacts would require court approval. She also raised concerns about the condition of RMS Titanic’s collection, pointing to the company’s financial difficulties.
The judge ordered the company to provide the court with an inventory of the artifacts and information about their condition, said the report.
RMS Titanic had proposed auctioning more than 100 items recovered during a deep-sea expedition decades ago. The collection includes gem-studded jewelry, tableware and a bronze cherub that once decorated the Titanic’s grand staircase.
The proposed auction faced opposition from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as well as historians and archaeologists who argued that the artifacts should be preserved and maintained as a collection.
The French government also protested the sale because France participated in the expedition that recovered some of the artifacts.
The Titanic sank in the North Atlantic in April 1912 after striking an iceberg on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. More than 1,500 people died in the disaster.
