U.S. District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith in Norfolk, Virginia, halted plans to auction more than 100 artifacts recovered from the Titanic wreck.
In a ruling issued Monday, Smith said the auction could not proceed without court approval. The judge rejected RMS Titanic's argument that the artifacts fell outside the court's jurisdiction, although the company holds exclusive salvage rights to the wreck.
Company ordered to provide inventory and preservation information
The court ordered RMS Titanic to provide an inventory of the artifacts in the collection and information showing their current condition. Smith also expressed concern about the conditions in which the collection's artifacts are being preserved, pointing to the company's financial difficulties.
The artifacts slated for sale were recovered from the Titanic wreck during a deep-sea expedition conducted decades ago. The collection includes jewelry decorated with precious stones, tableware and a bronze angel statue that adorned the Titanic's grand staircase.
Objections to the sale plan
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as well as historians and archaeologists, opposed the auction plan. They argued that the artifacts should be preserved as a collection and maintained together rather than sold individually.
The French government also objected to the sale. France participated in the expedition during which some of the artifacts in question were recovered.
The Titanic disaster
The Titanic struck an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic in April 1912 while sailing from Southampton to New York on its maiden voyage. More than 1,500 people died in the disaster.
