Salvage Mission to Enter Titanic's Hull

C L E A R W A T E R, Fla. July 17 -- The Florida company that owns the salvage rights to the Titanic is launching an expedition this week that will attempt for the first time to recover artifacts from inside the wrecked ocean liner.

“There is incalculable value down there and we aredetermined to recover as much as possible,” RMS Titanic Inc.chief executive Arnie Geller said in a statement.

The Clearwater-based company has made five salvage missionsto the Titanic since the wreckage was discovered 2 1/2 miles beneath the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland in1985.

Vehicles Will Enter Famous Ship

Several thousand artifacts including pieces of the ship andpersonal items from passengers and crew members have beenrecovered and put on exhibit in several cities around the world.All of those items were recovered from a half mile field ofdebris outside the ship.

This expedition, which is scheduled to leave this week fromNorfolk, Va., plans to use remote controlled cameras andvehicles to enter the ship’s cargo holds and mail room to lookfor jewelry and other valuable items.

Dives are planned through August. The salvage ship will bejoined by British and Russian ships in the mission.

No Auction

“We do expect to yield a lot of high profile artifacts thatwill surely deteriorate if we don’t protect them,” Geller said.“And our mission is to preserve the historic items we recoverand, consistent with the company policy, no items will beauctioned.”

The only items the company has sold from the Titanic aretiny pieces of coal used to power the ship.

The Titanic was the largest and most luxurious ocean linerin the world when it was completed in 1912. It sank on itsmaiden voyage from Britain to New York when it hit an iceberg onApril 14, 1912, killing 1,500 passengers and crew. About 750others were rescued.

Interest in the Titanic exhibits increased after the 1997movie about the disaster set box office records and won theAcademy Award as the best film of the year.