Credit: The Bettmann Archive

This expedition could teach us a little more about the infamous voyage.

Everyone knows the story of the RMS Titanic. Big, fancy, allegedly unsinkable, went on a voyage, hit an iceberg, almost everyone died, James Cameron made a movie out of it. The wreckage of the Titanic has been chilling at the bottom of the ocean for over a hundred years now, gradually being consumed by the ocean floor and metal-eating sea bacteria. RMS Titanic Inc., the company the manages the images and various artifacts of the ship, has been interested in launching another voyage to the vessel’s remains with a very particular prize in mind: the radio used to call for distress.

In order to obtain this artifact, however, extensive cutting into the ship’s hull would be required, which both the US and the UK were reluctant to let happen, as the wreckage is a protected international landmark. When RMS Titanic Inc. made the request in 2000, it was denied, but when an expedition in 2019 revealed the extensive decay of the wreckage, it was determined that this could be the last chance to recover anything from the ship in decent condition.

Credit: Oceangate

Judge Rebecca Beach Smith of Virginia’s eastern district court officially approved the expedition for the radio, as well as the cutting required into the ship’s “Marconi Suite” to obtain it. Judge Smith ruled that the expedition would be “a unique opportunity to recover an artifact that will contribute to the legacy left by the indelible loss of the Titanic, those who survived and those who gave their lives in the sinking.”

RMS Titanic Inc. is planning on running the expedition in August 2020. They’ll need to cooperate and file reports with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; any video, photos, or recovered artifacts will need to be reported to the NOAA.