Titanic auction in New York on April 11
 

http://www.smh.com.au/world/sale-of-...106-1pof5.html

Items recovered from RMS Titanic's resting place on the bottom of the Atlantic will be auctioned as a single lot in April this year.

Almost a hundred years to the day too...

A lot of that stuff were personal belongings of the passengers/crew. Can that actually be auctioned? Isn't that the same as opening graves and loot the stuff in there?:-?

:hmmm: Burke and Hare?
But I agree all personal belongings should have been left at the wreck

:nope: Pretty much...

But any moral can be thrown aside when there's money involved.

HunterICX

I stopped reading after I got to the part that stated some of the items were childrens toys :nope:

I never could understand the obsession over the Titanic. People have destroyed and dishonored that gravesite all so some yahoos could have a bauble or two. I remember seeing a picture once of the wreck, littered with plaques and junk left by all of the excursions to the site. Completely tasteless.

This.:sign_yeah:

A very good question and the answer depends on whether two decisions were previously made.

1. If the passenger/crew's estates were settled by insurance, then any belongings would then be "owned" the insuring body.

2. If the insuring body had declared that these items were derelict, which is a legal state, then anything recovered is legally the property of the recovering body. If so, they can be sold.

This is from a legal viewpoint. The question whether it is morally right to sell this stuff is a completely different issue.

In answer to your question is this the same as opening a grave and looting? No. Items in a grave are not declared derelict (or whatever the land legal term is) and therefore would not be the property of who ever loots them. This is one of the differences between recovery and looting.

It is a little tasteless though.

How can someone claim this stuff to belong to him ? To whom belongs the stuff ? How can it be sold ??
If there is something hauled up at all, this stuff belongs into a museum with indication of exact point found, and where it belonged on the ship.
Reminds me of troops in Iraq plundering museums.

If private people (no others but millionaires) buy the stuff to found a museum that is one thing.
If they want it in their Frank Loyd Wright villas or some russian Datscha to show off, bomb them :shifty:

Based on several international laws and treaties, property that has been declared Flotsam or Derelic has had its legal ownership waived and who ever can recover it can sell it to whom they wish.

If the property is declared Jetsam or Lagan, the ownership still remains with the original owner. Anyone recovering it has to give it back to the original owner, but is compensated for the costs (including profit) of the recovery.


Maritime lawyers, get rich on Flotsam/Jetsam/Lagan/Derelict cases. :yep:

That may be a morally laudable position, and one I support. Unfortunately it is not a legal one.

A museum has no automatic legal right to anything. The legal owner of the property may specify that all recovered items be sent to a museum (Egypt does this) but the museum/owner would be responsible for all the recovery costs.

"IT BELONGS IN A MUSEUM"
-Indiana Jones.

:sign_yeah:+1

I agree to the wisdom of Dr. Jones! Put it in a museum.