The company that owns the salvage rights to the Titanic shipwreck has cancelled plans to retrieve more artifacts from the site because the leader of the upcoming expedition died in the Titan submersible implosion, according to documents filed in a U.S. District Court on Wednesday. The decision could impact a looming court battle between the company and the U.S. government, which has been trying to stop the 2024 mission. U.S.
's exhibits have displayed items ranging from silverware to a piece of the ship’s hull. The company's original 2024 expedition plan also included possibly retrieving objects from the ship’s famed Marconi room. That's where the Titanic's radio broadcast increasingly frantic distress signals after the ocean liner hit an iceberg.
's budding legal fight with the U.S. government. The company's filing appears to suggest that it no longer plans to enter the ship's hull, which the government said would break the law. A hearing was still scheduled for Friday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Norfolk, Virginia, which oversees Titanic salvage matters.