Tag Archives: RMS Titanic

Titanic Piece Up For Auction-Or Not?

Heritage Auction Gallery in Dallas, Texas is auctioning items from the Charles Pelligrino collection that includes an actual piece of Titanic. According to the press release:

“This section, however, was part of the “crackage” of the great boat, which sheared away from the vessel as it broke in half, and was recovered from the ocean floor some distance from the wreck. A semicircular depression in one corner of the piece is evidence of the force with which the ship cracked, sufficient to pop a rivet completely away from the hull. It has become essentially fossilized after the bio-absorption.”

On my discussion list I speculated that RMS Titanic Inc. (part of Premiere Exhibitions) likely would be upset and go to court. One of the list participants contacted Premiere and was told discussions were going on, and that the auction house would be making a correction.

So far nothing has been released just yet but the obvious question is how Pellegrino acquired this piece. We know Titanic split in two and that there is a debris field between them. Most (but not all) artifacts come from the debris field. Some artifacts were brought up before RMS Titanic Inc (RMSTI) filed for salvage rights (some by RMSTI and the French brought some up as well). So it is possible this piece came up before any salvage rights were awarded.

The press release is rather vague about where it was found. It implies it was found away from the debris field which might put it outside of RMSTI’s control. And we do not know who certified it as part of Titanic. It will be interesting to watch how this story unfolds.


Titanic Exhibitor Faces Crisis;Major Shareholder Selling Stake

Reuters is reporting that Sellers Capital, which has a 46% stake in Premier Exhibitions, has stated it will be selling its position. The reason is that Sellers is facing increased redemption demands and needs to return the capital to its investors. Premier states it is “assessing strategic alternatives” which means it is trying to figure out to handle the sale. Sellers wants to sell its share to a buyer committed to preserving the Titanic artifacts as represented to a Federal court judge in a hearing last year.

The problem, I suspect, is finding an investor (or a group of them) who wants to sink money into this company. Premier handles many exhibitions and Titanic is one of them. An additional problem yet unanswered is the final disposition on the aritifacts. Premier Exhibitions does not own them but is the legal sucessor to the company that did the salvage, RMS Titanic Inc. That company was awarded salvor-in-possession status, not outright ownership of the artifacts. And a federal judge put restrictions on how those artifacts can be used. Premier has filed a motion with the federal court to grant them a salvage award allowing them to sell the artifacts. A ruling has not been made.

Of course there is the possibility of government action. The U.S. government might declare an interest in the matter saying it is of great historical value and use its powers to take them out of Premier’s hands. All of this uncertainty is not something that will attract investors unless they have lots of money to burn. It is quite possible investors from the Middle East or Asia might well end up buying the share.

Source: Reuters, Premier Exhibitions’ Largest Shareholder To Sell Stake, 21 June 2010