The U.S. government is trying to stop a planned expedition to recover items of historical interest from the sunken Titanic, citing a federal law and an international agreement that treat the shipwreck as a hallowed gravesite.

The expedition is being organized by RMS Titanic Inc., the Georgia-based firm that owns the salvage rights to the worldB次元官网网址檚 most famous shipwreck. The company exhibits artifacts that have been recovered from the wreck site at the bottom of the North Atlantic, from silverware to a piece of the TitanicB次元官网网址檚 hull.

The governmentB次元官网网址檚 challenge comes more than two months after near the sunken ocean liner, . But this legal fight has nothing to do with the June tragedy, which involved and an .

The battle in the U.S. District Court in Norfolk, Virginia, which oversees Titanic salvage matters, hinges instead on federal law and a pact with Great Britain to treat the sunken Titanic as a memorial to the more than 1,500 people who died. The ship hit an iceberg and sank in 1912.

The U.S. argues that entering the TitanicB次元官网网址檚 severed hull B次元官网网址� or physically altering or disturbing the wreck B次元官网网址� is regulated by federal law and its agreement with Britain. Among the governmentB次元官网网址檚 concerns is the possible disturbance of artifacts that may still exist.

B次元官网网址淩MST is not free to disregard this validly enacted federal law, yet that is its stated intent,B次元官网网址� U.S. lawyers argued in court documents filed Friday. They added that the shipwreck B次元官网网址渨ill be deprived of the protections Congress granted it.B次元官网网址�

RMSTB次元官网网址檚 expedition is tentatively planned for May 2024, according to a report it filed with the court in June.

The company said it plans to take images of the entire wreck. That includes B次元官网网址渋nside the wreck where deterioration has opened chasms sufficient to permit a remotely operated vehicle to penetrate the hull without interfering with the current structure.B次元官网网址�

RMST said it would recover artifacts from the debris field and B次元官网网址渕ay recover free-standing objects inside the wreck.B次元官网网址� Those could include B次元官网网址渙bjects from inside the Marconi room, but only if such objects are not affixed to the wreck itself.B次元官网网址�

The Marconi room holds the shipB次元官网网址檚 radio B次元官网网址� a Marconi wireless telegraph machine B次元官网网址� which broadcast the TitanicB次元官网网址檚 increasingly frantic distress signals after the ocean liner hit an iceberg. The messages in Morse code were picked up by other ships and onshore receiving stations, helping to save the lives of about 700 people who fled in life boats. There had been 2,208 passengers and crew on the TitanicB次元官网网址檚 maiden voyage, from Southampton, England, to New York.

B次元官网网址淎t this time, the company does not intend to cut into the wreck or detach any part of the wreck,B次元官网网址� RMST stated.

The company said it would B次元官网网址渨ork collaborativelyB次元官网网址� with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. agency that represents the publicB次元官网网址檚 interest in the wreck. But RMST said it does not intend to seek a permit.

U.S. government lawyers said the firm canB次元官网网址檛 proceed without one, arguing that RMST needs approval from the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, who oversees NOAA.

The company has not filed a response in court. But in previous cases, it has challenged the constitutionality of U.S. efforts to B次元官网网址渋nfringeB次元官网网址� on its salvage rights to a wreck in international waters. The firm has argued that only the court in Norfolk has jurisdiction, and points to centuries of precedent in maritime law.

RMST reiterated that stance in a statement to The Associated Press on Tuesday, noting that the court granted its salvage rights three decades ago. Since then, the firm said it has recovered and conserved thousands of Titanic artifacts, which millions of people have seen.

B次元官网网址淭he company will continue its work, respectfully preserving the memory and legacy of Titanic, her passengers and crew for the future generations,B次元官网网址� RMST said.

In 2020, the U.S. government and RMST engaged in over a that could have cut into the wreck. But the proceedings were cut short by the coronavirus pandemic and never fully played out.

The companyB次元官网网址檚 plan then was to retrieve the radio, which sits in a deck house near the grand staircase. An uncrewed submersible was to slip through a skylight or cut the heavily corroded roof. A B次元官网网址渟uction dredgeB次元官网网址� would remove loose silt, while manipulator arms could cut electrical cords.

The company said it would exhibit the radio along with stories of the men who tapped out distress calls B次元官网网址渦ntil seawater was literally lapping at their feet.B次元官网网址�

In May 2020, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith , writing that the radio is historically and culturally important and could soon be lost to decay. Smith wrote that recovering the telegraph would B次元官网网址渃ontribute to the legacy left by the indelible loss of the Titanic, those who survived, and those who gave their lives in the sinking.B次元官网网址�

A few weeks later, the U.S. government against the 2020 expedition, which never happened. The firm in early 2021 because of complications wrought by the pandemic.

Ben Finley, The Associated Press