Office of the Spokesperson
On November 18, 2019, the United States deposited with the United Kingdom its acceptance of the Agreement Concerning the Shipwrecked Vessel Royal Mail Ship (RMS) Titanic, thus bringing into force this important agreement.
RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on April 14, 1912 after hitting an iceberg. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers on board, more than 1,500 died, making the sinking one of modern history’s deadliest peacetime commercial marine disasters. Following the discovery in 1985 of the site of the RMS Titanic wreck, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and France negotiated the Agreement to protect the integrity of the wreck site from unregulated salvage and other activities. The Agreement obligates each Party to enact common measures to regulate the actions of persons and vessels under its jurisdiction regarding activities related to the wreck.
The Agreement reinforces the United States’ collaborative efforts with the United Kingdom and others to preserve the wreck site as an international maritime memorial to the men, women, and children who perished aboard the ship. The RMS Titanic is of major national and international historical, cultural, and scientific significance and merits appropriate protection.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has more information on U.S. efforts to protect the site of the RMS Titanic at Titanic homepage.
For press inquiries, contact OES-PA-DG@state.gov.