The excavation of the shipwreck site of the RMS Titanic by the commercial salvage company RMS Titanic, Inc. has often been controversial. RMS Titanic, Inc. (RMST) has removed thousands of artifacts from the site, all of which are currently in storage or included in Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition, a traveling exhibit that tells the story of the Titanic and RMST’s excavations. The only items from the wreck site sold by RMST are coal fragments, which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has declared should not be considered artifacts based on the limited archaeological or historic data that can be gleaned from them (it should be noted that not all archaeologists share this opinion of coal artifacts).
Though RMST, unlike other commercial salvors, has never sold artifacts, the company has been accused by some in the archaeological community of mismanaging the site. Robert Ballard of the Wood’s Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), and one of the original finders of the Titanic wreck site, has accused the company of contributing to the deterioration of the site by allowing submersibles to land on its deck, by accidental collisions between the ship’s hull and submersibles, and by leaving modern debris at the site.
James Delgado, President of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology (INA) at Texas A&M has leveled his own accusations against the company. In a 2001 article for Archaeology magazine that coincided with a trip to the wreck site, Delgado wrote that RMST’s lack of interest in adhering to archaeological standards had resulted in the degradation of the site’s integrity. He wrote:
Despite claims by [RMST] that their work is archaeologically based, it becomes obvious that they have been highly selective in what they retrieve. We see unmarked and third-class ceramics, and a few broken or badly chipped second-class pieces – no first class china. We see scoop marks that show where selected pieces have been plucked from clusters of artifacts – no grids, no scientific sampling – simply for their display or monetary value. What is happening here, two and one-half miles down and out of sight of much of the world, is not archaeology.
In this passage, Delgado essentially argues that RMST’s profit-driven motives have had an influence on the types of artifacts they target for removal from the site and that this, in itself, is antithetical to archaeological standards.
In late August, Delgado returned to Titanic, along with scientists and archaeologists from WHOI, NOAA, and the National Park Service. On an INA-sponsored blog, Delgado wrote of his recent change of heart regarding RMST’s management of Titanic:
A detailed forensic audit of their activities proved to many of us that they have mapped their recoveries, conserved their finds, and that the artifacts ware not to be sold but kept in publicly accessible museums. RMST’s President, Christopher Davino, and his company made a compelling argument to all of the partners that they wish to focus on the longterm preservation of the site and to see it properly and scientifically studied, mapped, and for discussions to begin on the future of the site based on hard science, not profit. So all of the partners, particularly with this being a scientific mission with no recovery of artifacts, agreed to participate.
In my research for my thesis, Exhibiting Salvage: Examining the Relationships Between Commercial Salvors and American Museums, I researched RMST’s history at the site, the criticism its excavations have faced, and I also visited Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition to determine the ways in which RMST presents its operations in museum exhibits. Like Delgado, I found the fact that RMST has not sold artifacts (other than coal fragments) to be encouraging. RMST also runs a state-of-the-art conservation lab to preserve the artifacts it recovers. However, the evidence suggesting a history of mismanagement of the site is compelling and undeniable. Additionally, RMST must continue to recover artifacts from the site in perpetuity in order to retain its salvor-in-possession rights. So, while Delgado takes care to note that no artifacts will be removed during this expedition, RMST will undoubtedly continue to recover artifacts from the site. This dichotomy between good practices and bad ones is a large part of what makes RMST controversial and hard to either fully support or fully condemn.
It seems to me that Delgado’s change of opinion between 2001 and 2010 is likely related to internal changes in the way RMST is run. In 2000, not long before Delgado’s trip to the site and the publication of his article in Archaeology, RMST’s then-president Arnie Geller released a proposed plan to “target high-profile and valuable artifacts” at the site and to cut into the ship’s hull to locate a rumored shipment of diamonds said to have sunk with the ship. This plan inspired outrage among the archaeological community and RMST was barred by a federal court in Virginia from cutting into the ship and from selling recovered artifacts. Since then, it appears, RMST has found a new president and, perhaps, a new approach towards the Titanic wreck site. Hopefully, this scientific expedition to the site will herald a new age of collaboration between archaeologists and RMST. This type of collaboration, in which scientific data is collected, no artifacts are sold, and recovered artifacts are only used to tell the story of the Titanic to the public, could be a wonderful model for the reformation of other commercial salvage companies.
The current expedition to the Titanic has been delayed due to storms, but the INA's Titanic Blog can be read here.
Delgado, James. “Diving on the Titanic.” Archaeology 54, No. 1 (January/February
2001).
Elia, Ricardo J. “Diving for Diamonds.” Archaeology, Online Features.
September 20, 2000. http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/titanic/index.htm.
Image from Premier Exhibitions, Inc., taken in late August 2010.
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