Detailed plans to use underwater robots to “surgically remove” a roof from the Titanic and retrieve the precious items within can be revealed by The Telegraph.
Behind the project is RMS Titanic Inc, the US company solely responsible for salvaging items from the vast debris field around the broken wreck for nearly Thirty years. Backed by private equity firms, the company now insists that the secrets hidden inside Titanic itself must be uncovered before they are lost in the crumbling wreck forever.
The salvage operation
Documents seen by the Telegraph
reveal plans to use a fleet of ROVs – remotely operated Vehicles with mechanical arms – to remove a deteriorating section of roof, before “surgically” extracting the Marconi wireless famed for issuing Titanic’s final frantic distress signals as it sank. “In the next few years, the overhead is expected to collapse, potentially burying forever the remains of the world’s most famous radio,” the legal document says.
Three underwater robots would then be deployed to a small skylight on the Titanic’s deck, above the so-called Silent Room where the wireless operators once slept and worked.
If all goes to plan, one of the ROVs would then use its mechanical “manipulators” to begin to “perforate the deck plating as needed ”. The others would film the process.
RMST is acutely aware that some families and campaigners will fiercely oppose the idea of stripping metal away from the Titanic before delving inside the wreck to retrieve its contents.
Questions have also previously previously been raised over whether human remains still reside within the ship, after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration made the controversial claim in that that there are still “People inside”.
the Telegraph
.
“After all, it’s not some kind of Trojan horse so that we can start grabbing suitcases full of diamonds from the wreck.
“This is a careful, surgical operation to rescue a historically significant item so it can teach future generations about the story of Titanic.
“We know that the wreck is deteriorating fast. Why would we let these artefacts disappear too?
“Surely we owe it to the future to protect and preserve these items, before it’s too late.”
What will they be extracting? O nce recovered the Marconi wireless would likely go on display at the RMST’s exhibition at the Luxor casino in Las Vegas, and then taken on a world tour including Belfast and Cherbourg.
The wireless in the Titanic
Credit: BSET
R MST. Confirmed it may even be able to restore the equipment to full working order, even after spending more than a century at the bottom of the Atlantic. “Provided with electrical power and managed by new-manufactured condenser, transformer, regulators and phase-matched antenna, Titanic’s radio – Titanic’s voice – could once again be heard, now and forever, ”the documents say.
The Marconi wireless as it looks today
R MST. Certainly has the experience to complete the job. The company was awarded salvor-in-possession status by a US court in 2000, giving it the sole power to salvage items from the wreck site. As the wreck’s official steward, it also regularly reports on its condition. During eight expeditions between
and , RMST retrieved around 5, artefacts from the vast debris field around the Titanic including crockery, hats, diamond jewelery and a giant loose piece of the ship’s hull. Many of the recovered pieces are displayed at the company permanent exhibitions in Las Vegas and Atlanta, and other major RMST shows around the world.
I n the firm was criticized when passengers were offered the chance, at $ 5, 0 per head, to watch the recovery of a large piece of the wreck on television screens in their cabins while enjoying luxury accommodation. Celebrities including Burt Reynolds, Debbie Reynolds and Buzz Aldrin, were recruited to add glamor to the project, which failed when a rope snapped and the piece plummeted to the sea floor. In the company helped complete the first comprehensive survey of the wreckage. Last year the firm nearly lost the salvage rights after a coalition involving British museums and the Titanic film director James Cameron attempted to seize them in the courts. The group said it had no plans to further salvage the wreck, and would maintain the salvage rights only to prevent others from doing so.
A judge eventually ruled in RMST’s favor after US private equity firms stepped in to help the company escape bankruptcy.
(Tons Rms Titanic Of The White Star Line Which Sank At 2) (Am Monday Morning April) (After Hitting Iceberg In North Atlantic)
Credit: Universal History Archive
S hortly. afterward Mr Hunchak, a 67 – year-old former financier who once advised the Greek government was appointed as the company new president. High-profile opponents of the new plan to retrieve items from inside the wreck include the oceanographer Robert Ballard who first discovered Titanic in , it is understood.
“Current policies regarding artefact extraction and retrieval have to date maintained a healthy balance between that which should be left untouched and that which should be recovered for public display and continued research, ”said an RMST statement issued to the court last night.
“We are now, though, entering an era when the deterioration of the main sections of the wreck has advanced to the point where historically -significant artefacts are at risk of being lost forever. The Marconi wireless telegraph transmitting apparatus is a good case in point … still retrievable and intact as of this writing, but at imminent risk of being lost. ”
The law for the wreck site
I n recent years both the US and UK have passed legislation honoring a treaty originally conceived in the s to protect the wreck of Titanic from scavengers.
In the US, the Consolidated Appropriations Act was passed in 2017 forbidding “research, exploration, salvage, or other activity that would physically alter or disturb the wreck or wreck site of the RMS Titanic unless authorized by the Secretary of Commerce. ”
However, lawyers for RMST will argue in court that the 2017 Act has “no enforcement provisions” and “no jurisdiction over the wreck itself or anybody that wants to go there” .
I nstead the company believes it is still bound only by the jurisdiction of the admiralty court that granted the firm sole salvor-in-possession status in 2000, and continues to oversee RMST’s stewardship of the wreck.
In the UK, the Protection of Wrecks (RMS Titanic) Order is much clearer. Anyone under British jurisdiction found heading to the wreck without a license would face a heavy fine with no upper limit.
Surgical review T o retrieve the Marconi wireless system from inside the wreck of the Titanic, three underwater robots – remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) – will be deployed to the roof of a deckhouse. One of the ROVs will then use its mechanical arms to remove the roof, while the other two film the process. The ROV will then extract the Marconi wireless and transfer it to a subsea basket, before it is hauled to the surface.
Radio room
I t is one of the enduring stories of the Titanic tragedy – a wireless operator tapping away desperately at his desk even as the giant ship began to slip beneath the waves.
Senior operator Jack Philips refused to abandon his post even after Captain Edward Smith told him he had done his duty.
Jack Philips, the wireless operator of the Titanic
Credit: Paul Grover
O nly when the Titanic’s power failed did Phillips accept he could do more. By that time, the lifeboats were long gone. His body was never identified.
T he Marconi wireless system sought by RMS Titanic Inc would be the most significant historical artifact ever raised from the wreck.
At the time of the voyage, it was one of the biggest and best wireless systems in the world.
Before the sinking, Jack Phillips and his junior colleague Harold Bride spent much of their time sending messages from first class passengers to their friends on dry land.
One message sent on to Los Angeles said: “No sickness. All well. Notify all interested in poker.” The telegraph system was also used as an early first news service, keeping passengers informed of an unfolding murder case in France.
A s the Titanic steamed across the Atlantic, however, the wireless began to pick up worrying alerts from fellow vessels, with one captain warning of “bergs, growlers and field ice”. A subsequent investigation never determined why these messages appeared to have been ignored.
Then, disaster. Shortly after the Titanic struck an iceberg, the first distress call was sent out. “Come at once,” it read. “We have struck a berg. It’s a CQD, old man.”
The operators then used the recently-adopted SOS alert to raise the alarm, adding in a stream of signals: “We are putting passengers off in small boats. Women and children in boats. Cannot last much longer. Losing power. ”
O ne of the final messages read: “Come quick. Engine room nearly full.”
Philips’ messages were heard by the RMS Carpathia, however, which steamed (miles to the scene and rescued more than People from the freezing water. The Marconi wireless was found to be largely intact during an expedition in . Footage showed it was still in the reset position, showing Philips had tried to boost the signal shortly before the boat sank.
Phillips did not survive the wreck, but Harold Bride did, by clinging to an upturned boat. “I will never live to forget the work of Phillips during the last awful 32 minutes, “he said later.” I suddenly felt a great reverence to see him standing there sticking to his work while everybody else was raging about. “
(Read More)
“Surely we owe it to the future to protect and preserve these items, before it’s too late.”
What will they be extracting? O nce recovered the Marconi wireless would likely go on display at the RMST’s exhibition at the Luxor casino in Las Vegas, and then taken on a world tour including Belfast and Cherbourg.
The wireless in the Titanic
Credit: BSET
R MST. Confirmed it may even be able to restore the equipment to full working order, even after spending more than a century at the bottom of the Atlantic. “Provided with electrical power and managed by new-manufactured condenser, transformer, regulators and phase-matched antenna, Titanic’s radio – Titanic’s voice – could once again be heard, now and forever, ”the documents say.
The Marconi wireless as it looks today
R MST. Certainly has the experience to complete the job. The company was awarded salvor-in-possession status by a US court in 2000, giving it the sole power to salvage items from the wreck site. As the wreck’s official steward, it also regularly reports on its condition. During eight expeditions between
and , RMST retrieved around 5, artefacts from the vast debris field around the Titanic including crockery, hats, diamond jewelery and a giant loose piece of the ship’s hull. Many of the recovered pieces are displayed at the company permanent exhibitions in Las Vegas and Atlanta, and other major RMST shows around the world.
I n the firm was criticized when passengers were offered the chance, at $ 5, 0 per head, to watch the recovery of a large piece of the wreck on television screens in their cabins while enjoying luxury accommodation. Celebrities including Burt Reynolds, Debbie Reynolds and Buzz Aldrin, were recruited to add glamor to the project, which failed when a rope snapped and the piece plummeted to the sea floor. In the company helped complete the first comprehensive survey of the wreckage. Last year the firm nearly lost the salvage rights after a coalition involving British museums and the Titanic film director James Cameron attempted to seize them in the courts. The group said it had no plans to further salvage the wreck, and would maintain the salvage rights only to prevent others from doing so.
A judge eventually ruled in RMST’s favor after US private equity firms stepped in to help the company escape bankruptcy.
(Tons Rms Titanic Of The White Star Line Which Sank At 2) (Am Monday Morning April) (After Hitting Iceberg In North Atlantic)
Credit: Universal History Archive
S hortly. afterward Mr Hunchak, a 67 – year-old former financier who once advised the Greek government was appointed as the company new president. High-profile opponents of the new plan to retrieve items from inside the wreck include the oceanographer Robert Ballard who first discovered Titanic in , it is understood.
“Current policies regarding artefact extraction and retrieval have to date maintained a healthy balance between that which should be left untouched and that which should be recovered for public display and continued research, ”said an RMST statement issued to the court last night.
“We are now, though, entering an era when the deterioration of the main sections of the wreck has advanced to the point where historically -significant artefacts are at risk of being lost forever. The Marconi wireless telegraph transmitting apparatus is a good case in point … still retrievable and intact as of this writing, but at imminent risk of being lost. ”
The law for the wreck site
I n recent years both the US and UK have passed legislation honoring a treaty originally conceived in the s to protect the wreck of Titanic from scavengers.
In the US, the Consolidated Appropriations Act was passed in 2017 forbidding “research, exploration, salvage, or other activity that would physically alter or disturb the wreck or wreck site of the RMS Titanic unless authorized by the Secretary of Commerce. ”
However, lawyers for RMST will argue in court that the 2017 Act has “no enforcement provisions” and “no jurisdiction over the wreck itself or anybody that wants to go there” .
I nstead the company believes it is still bound only by the jurisdiction of the admiralty court that granted the firm sole salvor-in-possession status in 2000, and continues to oversee RMST’s stewardship of the wreck.
In the UK, the Protection of Wrecks (RMS Titanic) Order is much clearer. Anyone under British jurisdiction found heading to the wreck without a license would face a heavy fine with no upper limit.
Surgical review T o retrieve the Marconi wireless system from inside the wreck of the Titanic, three underwater robots – remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) – will be deployed to the roof of a deckhouse. One of the ROVs will then use its mechanical arms to remove the roof, while the other two film the process. The ROV will then extract the Marconi wireless and transfer it to a subsea basket, before it is hauled to the surface.
Radio room
I t is one of the enduring stories of the Titanic tragedy – a wireless operator tapping away desperately at his desk even as the giant ship began to slip beneath the waves.
Senior operator Jack Philips refused to abandon his post even after Captain Edward Smith told him he had done his duty.
Jack Philips, the wireless operator of the Titanic
Credit: Paul Grover
O nly when the Titanic’s power failed did Phillips accept he could do more. By that time, the lifeboats were long gone. His body was never identified.
T he Marconi wireless system sought by RMS Titanic Inc would be the most significant historical artifact ever raised from the wreck.
At the time of the voyage, it was one of the biggest and best wireless systems in the world.
Before the sinking, Jack Phillips and his junior colleague Harold Bride spent much of their time sending messages from first class passengers to their friends on dry land.
One message sent on to Los Angeles said: “No sickness. All well. Notify all interested in poker.” The telegraph system was also used as an early first news service, keeping passengers informed of an unfolding murder case in France.
A s the Titanic steamed across the Atlantic, however, the wireless began to pick up worrying alerts from fellow vessels, with one captain warning of “bergs, growlers and field ice”. A subsequent investigation never determined why these messages appeared to have been ignored.
Then, disaster. Shortly after the Titanic struck an iceberg, the first distress call was sent out. “Come at once,” it read. “We have struck a berg. It’s a CQD, old man.”
The operators then used the recently-adopted SOS alert to raise the alarm, adding in a stream of signals: “We are putting passengers off in small boats. Women and children in boats. Cannot last much longer. Losing power. ”
O ne of the final messages read: “Come quick. Engine room nearly full.”
Philips’ messages were heard by the RMS Carpathia, however, which steamed (miles to the scene and rescued more than People from the freezing water. The Marconi wireless was found to be largely intact during an expedition in . Footage showed it was still in the reset position, showing Philips had tried to boost the signal shortly before the boat sank.
Phillips did not survive the wreck, but Harold Bride did, by clinging to an upturned boat. “I will never live to forget the work of Phillips during the last awful 32 minutes, “he said later.” I suddenly felt a great reverence to see him standing there sticking to his work while everybody else was raging about. “
(Read More)
The Marconi wireless as it looks today
A judge eventually ruled in RMST’s favor after US private equity firms stepped in to help the company escape bankruptcy.
(Tons Rms Titanic Of The White Star Line Which Sank At 2) (Am Monday Morning April) (After Hitting Iceberg In North Atlantic)
The law for the wreck site
I n recent years both the US and UK have passed legislation honoring a treaty originally conceived in the s to protect the wreck of Titanic from scavengers.
However, lawyers for RMST will argue in court that the 2017 Act has “no enforcement provisions” and “no jurisdiction over the wreck itself or anybody that wants to go there” .
Surgical review T o retrieve the Marconi wireless system from inside the wreck of the Titanic, three underwater robots – remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) – will be deployed to the roof of a deckhouse. One of the ROVs will then use its mechanical arms to remove the roof, while the other two film the process. The ROV will then extract the Marconi wireless and transfer it to a subsea basket, before it is hauled to the surface.
Radio room
I t is one of the enduring stories of the Titanic tragedy – a wireless operator tapping away desperately at his desk even as the giant ship began to slip beneath the waves.
Senior operator Jack Philips refused to abandon his post even after Captain Edward Smith told him he had done his duty.
Jack Philips, the wireless operator of the Titanic
Credit: Paul Grover
O nly when the Titanic’s power failed did Phillips accept he could do more. By that time, the lifeboats were long gone. His body was never identified.
T he Marconi wireless system sought by RMS Titanic Inc would be the most significant historical artifact ever raised from the wreck.
At the time of the voyage, it was one of the biggest and best wireless systems in the world.
Before the sinking, Jack Phillips and his junior colleague Harold Bride spent much of their time sending messages from first class passengers to their friends on dry land.
One message sent on to Los Angeles said: “No sickness. All well. Notify all interested in poker.” The telegraph system was also used as an early first news service, keeping passengers informed of an unfolding murder case in France.
A s the Titanic steamed across the Atlantic, however, the wireless began to pick up worrying alerts from fellow vessels, with one captain warning of “bergs, growlers and field ice”. A subsequent investigation never determined why these messages appeared to have been ignored.
Then, disaster. Shortly after the Titanic struck an iceberg, the first distress call was sent out. “Come at once,” it read. “We have struck a berg. It’s a CQD, old man.”
The operators then used the recently-adopted SOS alert to raise the alarm, adding in a stream of signals: “We are putting passengers off in small boats. Women and children in boats. Cannot last much longer. Losing power. ”
O ne of the final messages read: “Come quick. Engine room nearly full.”
Philips’ messages were heard by the RMS Carpathia, however, which steamed (miles to the scene and rescued more than People from the freezing water. The Marconi wireless was found to be largely intact during an expedition in . Footage showed it was still in the reset position, showing Philips had tried to boost the signal shortly before the boat sank.
Phillips did not survive the wreck, but Harold Bride did, by clinging to an upturned boat. “I will never live to forget the work of Phillips during the last awful 32 minutes, “he said later.” I suddenly felt a great reverence to see him standing there sticking to his work while everybody else was raging about. “
(Read More)
Radio room
I t is one of the enduring stories of the Titanic tragedy – a wireless operator tapping away desperately at his desk even as the giant ship began to slip beneath the waves.
Senior operator Jack Philips refused to abandon his post even after Captain Edward Smith told him he had done his duty.
Jack Philips, the wireless operator of the Titanic
Credit: Paul Grover
O nly when the Titanic’s power failed did Phillips accept he could do more. By that time, the lifeboats were long gone. His body was never identified.
T he Marconi wireless system sought by RMS Titanic Inc would be the most significant historical artifact ever raised from the wreck.
At the time of the voyage, it was one of the biggest and best wireless systems in the world.
Before the sinking, Jack Phillips and his junior colleague Harold Bride spent much of their time sending messages from first class passengers to their friends on dry land.
One message sent on to Los Angeles said: “No sickness. All well. Notify all interested in poker.” The telegraph system was also used as an early first news service, keeping passengers informed of an unfolding murder case in France.
A s the Titanic steamed across the Atlantic, however, the wireless began to pick up worrying alerts from fellow vessels, with one captain warning of “bergs, growlers and field ice”. A subsequent investigation never determined why these messages appeared to have been ignored.
Then, disaster. Shortly after the Titanic struck an iceberg, the first distress call was sent out. “Come at once,” it read. “We have struck a berg. It’s a CQD, old man.”
The operators then used the recently-adopted SOS alert to raise the alarm, adding in a stream of signals: “We are putting passengers off in small boats. Women and children in boats. Cannot last much longer. Losing power. ”
O ne of the final messages read: “Come quick. Engine room nearly full.”
Philips’ messages were heard by the RMS Carpathia, however, which steamed (miles to the scene and rescued more than People from the freezing water. The Marconi wireless was found to be largely intact during an expedition in . Footage showed it was still in the reset position, showing Philips had tried to boost the signal shortly before the boat sank.
Phillips did not survive the wreck, but Harold Bride did, by clinging to an upturned boat. “I will never live to forget the work of Phillips during the last awful 32 minutes, “he said later.” I suddenly felt a great reverence to see him standing there sticking to his work while everybody else was raging about. “
(Read More)
Senior operator Jack Philips refused to abandon his post even after Captain Edward Smith told him he had done his duty.
Phillips did not survive the wreck, but Harold Bride did, by clinging to an upturned boat. “I will never live to forget the work of Phillips during the last awful 32 minutes, “he said later.” I suddenly felt a great reverence to see him standing there sticking to his work while everybody else was raging about. “
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