Stockholder sues Atlanta-based Titanic salvage company

NORFOLK, VIRGINIA - A stockholder of R.M.S. Titanic Incorporated is suing the Atlanta salvage company, contending its leaders enriched themselves at shareholders&#39; expense through fraud and asking a court to remove them. <br> <br> The lawsuit by Lawrence D&#39;Addario of Connecticut says company leaders engaged in mail and wire fraud, obstruction of justice, misappropriation of corporate assets, looting and waste that threaten the very existence of R.M.S.T. and the integrity of the sunken Titanic wreck itself. <br> <br> D&#39;Addario, whose hometown was not listed, also contends that company leaders violated shareholders&#39; rights by refusing to let them vote in a meeting that led to a 1999 hostile takeover of the company, which has been salvaging the Titanic since 1987. <br> <br> D&#39;Addario, who owns about six percent of R.M.S. Titanic&#39;s stock, contends stockholders were damaged by at least $26 million, the value of their stock in 1999. He seeks unspecified damages and the removal of the company&#39;s officers and directors. <br> <br> D&#39;Addario filed his lawsuit in Norfolk federal court on Monday, the 90th anniversary of the Titanic&#39;s sinking about 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The court has overseen the salvage since 1992, when the first salvage claim was made there. Judge Calvitt Clarke Junior awarded sole salvage rights to R.M.S. Titanic Incorporated in 1994.