Titanic salvagers seek $100 million

NORFOLK, Va., Dec. 17 (UPI) -- The company that salvaged 3,700 artifacts from the Titanic is asking a federal judge to award it at least $100 million.

A federal court has already ruled RMS Titanic Inc. of Atlanta is not entitled to ownership of the artifacts, but a trial will be held in the coming months to determine how the firm will be compensated for the artifacts it retrieved from the ocean liner, which sank in 1912 killing about 1,520 people.

U.S. District Judge Rebecca Smith has ordered the U.S. attorney's office to monitor the salvage company's actions to ensure the artifacts are preserved "as an international treasure for posterity," The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot reported Monday.

Arnie Geller, chairman of RMS Titanic, said Friday the company is continuing negotiations with the cities of New York and Belfast, Northern Ireland -- home to a majority of the ill-fated Titanic's crew -- as well as the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Va, to take some or all of the collection.

Geller said preserving the artifacts has become more important than profits to the company, the newspaper reported.

"At some point it becomes a labor of love," he said. "It's more than the money at this point."