The wreck of the Titanic could be put up for sale after the company that owns it went bust.
The iconic Belfast-built ship sank in the Atlantic in April 1912 after it struck an iceberg. claiming the lives of more than 1,500 people
Premier Exhibitions Inc owns the salvage rights of the world’s most famous ship along with more than 5,500 atefacts taken from it in recent years.
The firm is trying to overturn a US court ruling banning the sale of individual treasures, valued at £163m, recovered from the ship.
The company believes the sale of just a few items could raise the case to clear the £9m it needs to pay off several unsecured creditors.
In a statement Premier Exhibitions Inc, RMS Titanic Inc said: “The debtors believe that a limited sale of artefacts, perhaps as few as 10 to 20, from the French Collection recovered from the Titanic would generate enough revenue to pay all of the debtors’ creditors in full, return all of the equity to the debtors’ shareholders and provide working capital for the debtors as they emerge from bankruptcy.”
The French Collection consists of around 2,100 artefacts recovered in 1987 during a joint salvage mission with the French government’s oceanographic institute.
The rest of the collection was taken to the surface in 1993.
Premier Exhibitions Inc financial problems are linked to the failure of Saturday Night Live exhibition in New York.
Its Titanic exhibition in Florida has been a success with more than 100 million visitors over the past 20 years.
