Titanic UNESCO Protection: After 100 Years, Shipwreck Now Qualifies

PARIS — The remains of the Titanic, under water for almost a century, are to fall under United Nations protection.

UNESCO, the U.N. cultural and scientific agency, says the wreck of the famed ship will fall under a 2001 convention on protecting underwater cultural heritage on the 100th anniversary of its sinking.

The convention only applies to remains submerged for more than 100 years. The Titanic sank April 15, 1912 in international waters in the North Atlantic.

Paris-based UNESCO said in a statement that the convention means signatory governments can seize artifacts stolen from the Titanic or prevent exploration "deemed unscientific or unethical."

In the statement, UNESCO director Irina Bokova expressed concern about the destruction and looting of shipwrecks and underwater archaeological sites.

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Comments

[Matthew Scott Pinks]

10:58 AM on 04/06/2012

What rubbish! A sunken ship (especially in international waters) is the PROPERTY of the one who can reach it. That has been maritime and international LAW for 4 millenia. Salvagers have been around as long as ships have; it's only in this days of banks and INSURANCE COMPANIES that anyone could try to say that (Titanic, for example) is Not the property of those who found and then legally staked claim over the wreck. Dr Ballard wanted Titanic to become a kind of memorial park, but did NOT stake the claim legally, so the next salgaver to come along DID. Nothing has been "stolen" from this site, it is entirely legal, and UNESCO has utterly NO interest or jurisdiction in this matter at all; the wreck of Titanic has been known, mapped, explored and salvaged since 1986, far before their (false anyhow,) 100 year claim.

[Dan Crabtree]

01:28 AM on 04/06/2012

Anything the UN touches is doomed..

[Leon Engelun]

11:05 PM on 04/05/2012

It sank like a rock so let it stay sunk.

[flyingfortresb17]

10:28 PM on 04/05/2012

It should have been protected as it was a grave for so many who did not get off when it went down. The same for the Lusitania.

[JamesHolden]

11:02 PM on 04/05/2012

And the Arizona........

[flyingfortresb17]

12:47 AM on 04/06/2012

The Arizona is already protected. It was never decommissioned and it has a complement of Marines guarding it.

[themechanicsix]

10:26 PM on 04/05/2012

What the heck gives them the self appointed right. UN worthless group.

[fpwillson]

10:53 PM on 04/05/2012

Absolutely. And exactly how are they going to enforce this, so called, protection.
Certainly there are better things to be doing with their (highly paid) time.

[JoanneRM]

08:43 PM on 04/05/2012

Finally. I saw the man who found the ship on the Colbert show last night. What was happening was his worry. This is such a relief.

[Matthew Scott Pinks]

10:52 AM on 04/06/2012

Ballard? He's the one who located and explored it and did NOT claim (legitimate) salvage rights, with some high-minded idea it would remain kind of sacrosant to everyone. Of course, then next guy along (using Ballard's techinques and location,) DID claim salvage rights, so it was his wreck to exploit, legally. Where these twerps on this article get off saying anything was "stolen" from Titanic is just bunk. FINDERS KEEPERS, the ship was found in 1986 (74 years after sinking,) and was a legitimate, LEGAL source of artifacts, memorabilia and treasure.

[JavaManiac]

04:05 PM on 04/05/2012

Is that a good thing? There are several UNESCO sites by me and they take terrible care of them.

[jbmorgen1]

03:59 PM on 04/05/2012

What other ships are protected by the UNESCO? Does the RMS Empress of Canada I falls into this category since she was sunk during WWII?

[doctorcycoe]

08:33 PM on 04/05/2012

As I understand the article, the convention "only applies to remains submerged for more than 100 years". My guess is that the RMS Empress of Canada 1 is not protected. I am no expert, this is what I believe the article says.

[JoanneRM]

08:45 PM on 04/05/2012

Where did it sink? If it is in the waters of a particular country, that country can protect it. WWII seems like 100 years ago for so many, but we are only coming up on the 100th anniversary of the beginning of WWI.

[wrasmus306]

01:00 AM on 04/06/2012

Sank in internaitonal waters south of Greenland, I think. But, it is not in any one nation's territiorial waters. Besides, it would be difficult to go after anything there - one would either need to have a ship on DP there for days on end, which would be visible by satellite, or a submarine with deep ROV capability, which would need to be a specially built submarine, also able to maintain position for lengthy periods. This would be detectable first in the construction yards, but also by the stationary signature of the heat of their reactors.

So, it would be a tough job to try and do some illegal salvage, which would be super costly to sell, anyhow.

[jbmorgen1]

01:02 AM on 04/06/2012

The ship sank in the South Atlantic, and she was under the Royal Navy's control. She was my grand-father's ship.