The Congress finds that—

(1) the R.M.S. Titanic, the ocean liner which sank on her maiden voyage after striking an iceberg on April 14, 1912, should be designated as an international maritime memorial to the men, women, and children who perished aboard her;

(2) the recent discovery of the R.M.S. Titanic, lying more than twelve thousand feet beneath the ocean surface, demonstrates the practical applications of ocean science and engineering;

(3) the R.M.S. Titanic, well preserved in the cold, oxygen-poor waters of the deep North Atlantic Ocean, is of major national and international cultural and historical significance, and merits appropriate international protection; and

(4) the R.M.S. Titanic represents a special opportunity for deep ocean scientific research and exploration.

The Congress declares that the purposes of sections 450rr to 450rr–6 of this title are—

(1) to encourage international efforts to designate the R.M.S. Titanic as an international maritime memorial to those who lost their lives aboard her in 1912;

(2) to direct the United States to enter into negotiations with other interested nations to establish an international agreement which will provide for the designation of the R.M.S. Titanic as an international maritime memorial, and protect the scientific, cultural, and historical significance of the R.M.S. Titanic;

(3) to encourage, in those negotiations or in other fora, the development and implementation of international guidelines for conducting research on, exploration of, and if appropriate, salvage of the R.M.S. Titanic; and

(4) to express the sense of the United States Congress that, pending such international agreement or guidelines, no person should physically alter, disturb, or salvage the R.M.S. Titanic in any research or exploratory activities which are conducted.

(Pub. L. 99–513, § 2, Oct. 21, 1986, 100 Stat. 2082.)