16 U.S.C. § 450rr: R.M.S. Titanic…

Summary

Declare the R.M.S. Titanic an international sea memorial for the men, women, and children who died when it struck an iceberg and sank on April 14, 1912. The wreck was found more than 12,000 feet below the ocean surface, showing what ocean science and engineering can do. Because it is well preserved in the cold, low-oxygen deep North Atlantic, the ship has major cultural and historic importance and should get international protection. It also offers a special chance for deep-ocean research and exploration. Require the United States to begin talks with other countries to create an international agreement to name the Titanic a memorial and protect its scientific, cultural, and historic value. Encourage development of international rules for researching, exploring, and, if appropriate, salvaging the wreck. Until such an agreement or rules exist, no one should physically alter, disturb, or salvage the Titanic during research or exploration.

Title 16, §450rr

Conservation, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Findings

The Congress finds that—

(1)the R.M.S. Titanic, the ocean liner which sank on her maiden voyage after striking an iceberg on April 14, 1912, should be designated as an international maritime memorial to the men, women, and children who perished aboard her;

(2)the recent discovery of the R.M.S. Titanic, lying more than twelve thousand feet beneath the ocean surface, demonstrates the practical applications of ocean science and engineering;

(3)the R.M.S. Titanic, well preserved in the cold, oxygen-poor waters of the deep North Atlantic Ocean, is of major national and international cultural and historical significance, and merits appropriate international protection; and

(4)the R.M.S. Titanic represents a special opportunity for deep ocean scientific research and exploration.

(b)Purposes

The Congress declares that the purposes of sections 450rr to 450rr–6 of this title are—

(1)to encourage international efforts to designate the R.M.S. Titanic as an international maritime memorial to those who lost their lives aboard her in 1912;

(2)to direct the United States to enter into negotiations with other interested nations to establish an international agreement which will provide for the designation of the R.M.S. Titanic as an international maritime memorial, and protect the scientific, cultural, and historical significance of the R.M.S. Titanic;

(3)to encourage, in those negotiations or in other fora, the development and implementation of international guidelines for conducting research on, exploration of, and if appropriate, salvage of the R.M.S. Titanic; and

(4)to express the sense of the United States Congress that, pending such international agreement or guidelines, no person should physically alter, disturb, or salvage the R.M.S. Titanic in any research or exploratory activities which are conducted.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Short Title

Pub. L. 99–513, § 1, Oct. 21, 1986, 100 Stat. 2082, provided that: “This Act [enacting this section and sections 450rr–1 to 450rr–6 of this title] may be cited as the ‘R.M.S. Titanic Maritime Memorial Act of 1986’.”

§450rr R.m.s. Titanic; International Maritime Memorial; Findings and Purposes

Summary

Title 16, §450rr

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Short Title

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