Titanic salvage company will take case to Supreme Court

ATLANTA - An Atlanta company that has salvaged thousands of items from the Titanic said Wednesday it will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a lower court decision that blocked the company from selling artifacts from the shipwreck. <br> <br> RMS Titanic Inc. chief executive Arnie Geller said the ruling last month by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals conflicted with previous court rulings by the appeals court. <br> <br> The company has recovered about 6,000 items, including the personal belongings of passengers and the base of a statue from the grand staircase, since the wreck was discovered in 1985. <br> <br> RMS Titanic had sought court permission to sell some of the items to private collectors and museums, contending it needs the sales money to launch future expeditions. <br> <br> The right to sell is opposed by the families of some of the victims of the sinking of the Titanic, who worry the artifacts will be dispersed all over the world. <br> <br> But a panel of the appeals court ruled 3-0 on April 12 that RMS Titanic does not have title to objects taken from the bottom of the sea. <br> <br> The company claims that ruling conflicts with a 1999 appeals court ruling and a 1994 lower court ruling, both of which said RMS Titanic was the sole owner of the items it recovered. <br> <br> ``To me it&#39;s no longer an issue of the Titanic,&#39;&#39; Geller said Wednesday. ``It&#39;s no longer an issue of admiralty law. It&#39;s can we as citizens rely on federal court orders?&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Geller said he did not know when the appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court would be filed. <br> <br> A stockholder in RMS Titanic is also suing the company, claiming its executives got rich at investors&#39; expense by practicing fraud and improperly managing company assets. <br> <br> The suit, filed in federal court last month by Lawrence D&#39;Addario, seeks to create a class of about 1,000 shareholders who could join the lawsuit. <br> <br> RMS Titanic stock has traded at less than $1 for the past year. It was trading at 20 cents Wednesday afternoon, unchanged from Tuesday&#39;s closing price. <br> <br> Recent financial statements from the company value artifacts it has recovered at $11.2 million, according to the SEC filing. RMS Titanic said it was beginning a review of the accounting of those costs. <br> <br> The Titanic went down April 15, 1912, after striking an iceberg in the North Atlantic. More than 1,500 people died.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/5/195254