US court bars Titanic sales

More than 1,500 died when the 'unsinkable' ship sank

A US federal court has banned a salvage company from selling any artifacts lifted from the wreck of Titanic.

Florida-based RMS Titanic Inc, which owns exclusive salvage rights to the ship, was also ordered not to cut into the wreckage.

Divers attempting to recover $300m in diamonds and historic artefacts from the Belfast-built liner have warned that the shipwreck is about to collapse.

The wreck was discovered 15 years ago

"If we don't enter the ship now for salvage purposes, ocean microbes will devour the ship's steel for all eternity. There is incalculable value down below, and we are determined to recover as much as possible," said RMS Titanic president Arnie Geller.

The ship sank on its maiden voyage from Belfast in 1912 after striking an iceberg in the north Atlantic on its way to New York.

The members of the expedition have reported on their website that the ship's bow section, resting nearly two miles below the surface "is on the verge of a catastrophic failure", and that the very interior walls of the ship are very thin and in a state of advanced decay.

Diamond search

The latest expedition, which started on 21 July, has salvaged items from the Titanic's front cargo hold including a cast-iron table base with brass feet, a four-sided bottle with the cork still intact, and a leather suitcase containing books and postcards.

RMS Titanics says the wreck is fast deteriorating

But they have not so far located a diamond shipment and passengers' jewellery, which RMS Titanic believes can be recovered from leather pursers' bags in the cargo hold.

Although they abandoned plans to cut into the ship, on 27 July the company said it should have "the absolute right to sell and may sell items of non-historical and archaeological significance recovered from the Titanic wreck site".

RMS Titanic was declared "salvor in possession" of the Titanic wreckage in June 1994 by a court in Norfolk, Virginia making the company exclusive owner of items recovered from the depths, it said.

The company is required to update the courts on the salvage operation every year.

During five dives since 1987, the company has recovered about 5,000 objects from the site including a 20-tonne section of the hull.

Three salvage ships - including one from Russia - are currently on site, working on the wreck.