RMS Titanic, Inc., (RMST) the company that owns salvage rights to the Titanic shipwreck, has indefinitely put off its plans to retrieve the vessel’s radio equipment for exhibit. The company cited the coronavirus pandemic for the delay, according to a court filing the company made on January 29. The Atlanta-based company said its plans have faced “increasing difficulty associated with international travel and logistics, and the associated health risks to the expedition team.” RMST’s primary source of revenue comes from its exhibits of its vast collection of Titanic relics, which have been closed or seen only limited attendance due to virus-related restrictions.
RMST — a subsidiary of Premier Exhibitions and the “salvor-in-possession” of the Titanic wreck site — said its planned expedition to recover the ship’s wireless station equipment remains a top priority, however, and will “take place as soon as reasonably practicable.” The Marconi-equipped station transmitted the distress calls after the Titanic (on its maiden voyage) struck an iceberg some 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland in 1912 and began sinking. The transmissions, heard by some nearby vessels, have been credited with helping rescue some 700 passengers in lifeboats deployed from the Titanic, but about 1,500 passengers were lost in the disaster. RMST has said the radio transmitter could unlock some of the secrets about a missed warning message and distress calls sent from the ship.
The coronavirus pandemic aside, RMST has been in an ongoing legal battle with the US government over whether the recovery operation would be legal. In May of 2020, a US federal judge in Virginia gave permission to retrieve the ill-fated ship’s wireless gear. The judge ruled that the radio gear has “significant historical, educational, scientific, and cultural value” and could soon be lost within the rapidly decaying wreck, and said the company would be permitted “minimally to cut into the wreck” to access the radio room.
RMST has said it would try to avoid cutting into the ship, noting that the radio room may be reachable via an already-open skylight. But, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has contended that the retrieval expedition is still prohibited under US law and under an international agreement between the US and the UK. NOAA has argued that any benefit to be realized from cutting into the vessel to recover the Marconi equipment would not be “worth the cost to the resource and not in the public interest.”
RMST sought permission to carry out what it called a “surgical removal and retrieval” of the Marconi radio equipment, which is in poor shape after more than a century under water. The undersea retrieval would mark the first time an artifact was collected from within the Titanic, which many believe should remain undisturbed as the final resting place of the victims of the maritime disaster. The wreck sits on the ocean floor some 2 1/2 miles beneath the surface and remained undiscovered until 1985.
RMST plans to use a manned submarine to reach the wreck and would then deploy a remotely controlled submarine to retrieve the radio equipment.
SOURCE:ARRL
Antenna
MFJ-226 1-230 MHZ ANTENNA EXPECT TIMES GRAPHIC ANALYZER
MFJ VNA Antenna Analyzer covers 1 to 230 MHz, 1Hz resolution. •Frequency sweep plots: SWR, Impedance, Resistance, Reactance,Phase Angle, Comple... Read more
SteppIR UrbanBeam, “Step by Step” Assembly and Installation
SteppIR Antenna This video shows the SteppIR UrbanBeam’s step-by-step assembly and installation in the tower, several hours in minutes. The Urba... Read more
Comparing Elevated 1/4w Vertical vs. Link Dipole with WSPR
“Hello Ham Radio Ops, K5ACL from SignalSearch here with another Antenna comparison/testing video using the Weak Signal Propagation Reporter (WSP... Read more
BOLPA-10 A Super Wide Band, High Performance Log Periodic Dipole Array (LPDA) – 14MHz to 30MHz Optimised for all Ham Bands Just 7.7m long
Hockley Essex, United Kingdom – InnovAntennas Limited, The premier supplier of sophisticated and Innovative directional antenna systems announces toda... Read more
New Antenna Uses Saltwater and Plastic to Steer Radio Beams
Liquid-based antennas offer unique advantages over metal ones By Michelle Hampson A new antenna that uses saltwater and plastic instead of metal to sh... Read more
Review
![Flex-6400M and Flex-6600M Preview from the Dayton Hamvention 2017 [ VIDEO ]](https://qrznow.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/18622145_10101189664121067_3083379459574983841_n-265x168.jpg)
Flex-6400M and Flex-6600M Preview from the Dayton Hamvention 2017 [ VIDEO ]
Flex-6400M and Flex-6600M Read more
Icom ID-4100 D-Star – Review
Since the introduction of D-STAR in 2001, Icom has been committed to improving and advancing the D-STAR experience. The ID-4100A and it’s advance tech... Read more
![ICOM IC- 705 [ New Videos ]](https://qrznow.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/ic705-movie-15-265x168.png)
Comet CAA-500 MK2 Antenna Analyzer Preview
CAA-500MARKII SWR/Impedance Analyzer Highly accurate analog cross needles display SWR and impedance simultaneously. Full color TFT LCD display screen... Read more
Why is Coax 50 Ohms?
Why is Coax 50 Ohms? Read more
Equipment
Radiosport RS60CF Deluxe Headset
Radiosport RS60CF deluxe “dream” edition Headset – $289.00 Stereo headset supports Dual-Watch/Dual-Receive rigs, 24dB Noise Reductio... Read more
MFJ Digital SWR / Wattmeters – MFJ-845/847
MFJ-845/847 New MFJ Digital SWR/Wattmeters display Forward, Refelected Power, SWR and Battery life all in a single glance! Large 1/2” forward power d... Read more
Astron Has A New Power Supply, SS-50M-AP First Look
“This is their brand new, up and coming line of switching mode power supplies. Very quick video. But it is the only one in the world on display... Read more
Palstar HF-AUTO 1800 – Automatic Antenna Tuner
The Palstar HF-AUTO 1800 watt automatic antenna tuner covers 160 to 6 Meters with a power rating of up to 1800 watts PEP. Hams have enjoyed the... Read more
News
Mysterious Radio Signal Discovered in Milky Way Center | What Is It!?
Ziteng (Andy) Wang is a PhD student at the University of Sydney. He recently discovered an unusual radio signal coming from the direction of the Milky... Read more
TRI BAND TRANSCEIVER – RS-UV3A
The HobbyPCB RS-UV3A radio module is a 144/220/450 MHz FM transceiver board. The RS-UV3A is a low cost transceiver solution for Packet Radio, repeater... Read more
ARRL Continues Its Efforts to Preserve Amateur Radio Secondary Use of the 3 GHz Band
ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR, in a written statement on the newly filed H.R.5378 before the US House Commerce Communications and Technology Subc... Read more
![Why Ham Radio [ ARRL Video ]](https://qrznow.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hq720-1-265x168.jpg)
Why Ham Radio [ ARRL Video ]
Josh Nass, KI6NAZ, of @Ham Radio Crash Course talks about what ham radio is, and answers the question…. “Why Ham Radio?” Read more
High Speed Telegraphy 2021 in Montenegro
September 10-14, 2021, the 17th World Championship High Speed Telegraphy was held in Montenegro. The event was organized by MARP (Montenegrin Amateur... Read more
