A mission to the wreckage of the Titanic to recover more artefacts has been suspended after the implosion of the Titan sub earlier this year. It was disclosed that RMS Titanic Inc, the company that holds the salvage rights to the Titanic wreckage, has cancelled an artefact recovery expedition that was set to happen in 2024, as per a report in the New York Post.
"Out of respect for (Paul-Henri) Nargeolet (who was the director of underwater research for RMS Titanic, Inc. and due to lead the mission) and his family, and the other four people who perished so recently at the site, and their families, the company has decided that artefact recovery would not be appropriate at this time," the firm said, as per the documents filed.
Notably, all five people aboard the Titan sub including the British billionaire and explorer Hamish Harding, Pakistani-born business magnate Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Suleman, French oceanographer and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, who had visited the wreck dozens of times, and Stockton Rush, the American Founder and Chief Executive of OceanGate, who was piloting the submersible, were killed.
Mr Nargeolet has previously overseen the recovery of over 5,000 Titanic artefacts and had performed 37 dives to the wreckage.
Additionally, RMS Titanic declared that until "further investigation takes place regarding the cause of the (OceanGate) tragedy," it would not deploy another crewed submersible to the Titanic. Even though RMS Titanic decided against personally searching the Titanic for artefacts, the company indicated it will keep collecting photos and performing surveys in order to improve "future artefact recovery."
It is to be noted that the company and the US government have been engaged in a legal battle regarding the company's plans to visit the well-known wreckage site in 2024. However, the government's challenge had nothing to do with the June deaths. Rather, it had to do with federal law and an international agreement that is said to "place the wreckage as a hallowed gravesite that should not be disturbed", as per a report in People Magazine.