Supreme Court declines to review Titanic artifact sales

WASHINGTON - Artifacts recovered from the wreck of the Titanic will not go up for sale, after salvage company RMS Titanic Incorporated lost its Supreme Court appeal over the objects. <br> <br> The court refused Monday to consider whether the company owned thousands of items recovered from the sunken ship and could sell them. <br> <br> A judge had given the company exclusive rights to bring up items from the wreck. Courts refused, however, to let the company sell the artifacts which include passengers&#39; personal belongings. <br> <br> RMS Titanic, which is incorporated in Florida but has its main office in Atlanta, had initially said it would only display the artifacts at museums and traveling shows. Company lawyer Mark Davis says that under maritime law, the salvage firm was the rightful owner and could sell the objects to fund more exploration. <br> <br> More than 1,500 people died when the Titanic sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in 1912 after hitting an iceberg. <br> <br> The wreckage was found in 1985 about 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland.