he treasure trove from the most famous sunken ship in the world is in the hands of a federal judge. Maritime Jurist Rebecca Beach Smith is expected to rule, within weeks, whether the largest collection of artifacts from the U.S.S. Titanic should remain accessible to the public. Ongoing legal disputes about the rightful owners began when the ship was exhumed in 1985 by an international team of oceanographers.
3 thoughts on “The Ship of Dreams Launches A Legal Nightmare”
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There should be some sort of “test” in these cases. Something that a person would need to do to show that they are still trying to retrieve their property in order for ownership rights to be maintained. If not then the rights would go to the”first finder”.
Jurist Smith should toss the case. If there was anything of value that the families wanted they should have mounted an expedition as soon as the ship was found. This maritime business of “whatever you find is our not yours” is killing the expedition industry and depriving the public at large of priceless pieces of history.
Companies and individuals that hunt shipwrecks spend large sums of money and time. Given the work and resources that go into these finds, their efforts should be rewarded with a unencumbered claim to whatever they find.
I like the idea of a family proving that they were searching for the items; but the average persn doesn’t usually have the extra resources for such activities. Perhaps if the families would agree to “loan” the items to an exhibit for an extended period of time then the public wouldn’t be deprived of these pieces of history. Although I do agree with the concept of finders keepers (even if that saying likely originated in kindergarten), I doubt that most of these families could afford such an extensive search that the expedition industry can afford.
Well, my opinion is finders-keepers period unless a living person can prove ownership. Ridiculous for people to lay claim to something their possible ancestor lost in the ocean. And even more ridiculous for governments to claim lost treasure recovered by someone else. I wish I could be the judge on this case, I would set them straight in a heartbeat, you can believe !!1