Fears Titanic wreck could be pillaged after salvage company falls into bankruptcy

Archaeologists fear the Titanic wreckage will be pillaged, broken up and even raised from the seabed after the company which owns the cheap canada goose salvaging rights sank deeper into financial ruin.

Premier Exhibitions revealed plans to auction off its 5,500 strong collection of artefacts last month in a bid to wipe out debts estimated at up to 9 million.

Academics and canada goose uk black friday relatives of Titanic victims fear for the Canada Goose Outlet future of the ship’s future after reports also claimed the Atlanta based firm plans to sell off its future salvaging rights too.

It could mean private companies from across the globe could apply and subsequently raid the ship.

“It would seem they are canada goose outlet nyc cashing in on their rights for future salvaging,” said William Neill, an environment professor formerly at Queen’s University Belfast, who canada goose outlet jackets edited a 2013 book on the Titanic legacy.

“I can just imagine salvage rights being offered to amateurs from China, Japan and Australia, who are interested in Titanic canada goose outlet store exhibitions.

“The most awful scenario would be to see bits of the hull being raised from the seabed which doesn’t bearthinking about.

“There is something very unseemly about bringing into the public gaze what is essentially Canada Goose online a grave site

Amid its maiden voyage between Southampton and New York, in April 1912, the “unsinkable” ship hit an iceberg about 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland.

More than 1,500 passengers of the 2,224 on board perished.

It was canada goose black friday sale thought to have sank in one piece, until, in 1985, Dr Robert Ballard found that it had cracked in two more than two miles below the surface.

It prompted the immediate dilemma cheap canada goose canada goose jacket outlet of ownership, given it sank in international waters, but since 1994, RMS Titanic Inc has been the only company that can legally sanction a diving mission to the remains.

Archaeologists have repeatedly criticised what they say is a commercially motivated enterprise, including in 1998, after it raised a section of the Titanic’s hull.

In June last year, RMS Titanic Inc’s parent company, Premier, filed for bankruptcy.

Its canada goose outlet store uk papers submitted at canada goose outlet reviews a bankruptcy court in Jacksonville, Florida, on May 18, said the company hopes to https://www.rkliedtke.de auction off artefacts before February 2018.

Fraiser Sturt, an associate professor of archaeology at the University of Southampton, is concerned over who, in the future, will be able to apply for salvaging rights.

“It’s a concern and my natural preference is not to see canada goose outlet toronto factory it exploited for commercial goose outlet canada gain and leaving buy canada goose jacket cheap it to rot is not as negative as it canada goose outlet uk sounds,” said Professor Sturt.

“If the Titanic was visible on land, we would not be having this discussion and it would be taken better care of.”

Katie Rosevear, from Cornwall, whose canada goose great uncle Stephen Jenkin sank with the Titanic, said any further salvaging of the Titanic sounded “horrific”.

The 62 year old still wears a blue stone bracelet that Mr Jenkin gave her grandmother before boarding the ship back to work in the copper mines in Michigan.

“It should be left to rest in peace,” said the primary school canada goose store teacher.

“My uncle’s body was never found and it’s a possibility his body is still aboard the ship.”

Carpenter Simon Medhurst, whose great grandfather Robert Hichens was at the helm of the vessel as it struck the icebergand has been blamed for the disaster, is scared the collection could be bought by an individual who does not exhibit it.

“It would obviously be a shame if it was plundered,” said the 49 year old father of four, from Chelmsford, Essex.

These Canada Goose sale include a bowler hat, a bronze cherub statue, binoculars, leather shoes, a leather bag and a jam pot.

John Creamer, who is treasurer of the British Titanic Society, added: “It would be great if it was kept intact and the collection is not scattered and artefacts are instead returned to Belfast or kept at Greenwich.”

Liam Kennedy, a history professor at Queen’s University Belfast, said: “The collection canada goose outlet in usa Canada Goose Parka would contribute greatly if it was included in the Titanic exhibition here.”

Premier Exhibitions failed to respond to a request for comment, but spokesman Dave Vermillion told the Mail on Sunday it was “100 per cent committed” to safeguarding the artefacts and the wreck site.