The Titanic was launched in 1912. On its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York, the Titanic collided with an iceberg and sank on 15 April 1912. In 1985, the wreck of the Titanic was discovered at the bottom of the North Atlantic in international waters. In 1987, Titanic Ventures LP (Titanic Ventures) and other institutions voluntarily undertook efforts to salvage the wreck. Titanic Ventures thereafter sold both its interest in the salvage operation and the 1,800 artefacts it had recovered to RMS Titanic Inc (RMST). RMST recovered another 800 artefacts. In 1993, RMST obtained an order from the District Court that granted RMST exclusive salvage rights over the wreck and the wreck site of the Titanic. In support of its request, RMST presented the District Court with a wine decanter salvaged from the Titanic and stated that numerous other artifacts were physically within the district. The District Court held that the wine decanter and the artifacts would enable it to exercise in rem jurisdiction over the wreck.

In 1998, Deep Ocean Expeditions (DOE) proposed an expedition that would allow members of the public to visit the wreck of the Titanic. One of the subscribers was Christopher Haver (Haver). Being aware of this proposed expedition, RMST filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to prevent DOE, among others, from visiting the wreck site to view and photograph the wreck. Haver filed a separate declaratory judgment action against RMST and argued that he had a right to enter the wreck site to observe, video and photograph the Titanic. The District Court granted injunctive relief to RMST. Haver appealed.

On appeal, one of the arguments made by Haver was that the District Court could not have exercised in rem jurisdiction over the wreck and the wreck site of the Titanic because the wreck lay in international waters. Thus, Haver argued that the District Court had no power to adjudicate salvage rights without in rem jurisdiction.

Held: The District Court's decision was affirmed in part and reversed in part.

According to the Preamble of the International Convention on Salvage 1989 (Salvage Convention 1989), the principles of salvage law are intended to encourage persons to render prompt, voluntary and effective service to ships at peril or in distress by assuring them compensation and reward for their salvage efforts. When providing salvage service, a salvor acts on behalf of the owner in saving the owner's property even though the owner may have made no such request or may have had no knowledge of the need. The law of salvage presumes that the owner desires the salvage service. By rendering salvage service, the salvor thus acquires a limited property interest in the goods saved, namely, a first lien and exclusive possession until the salvor has been paid or its right against the property has been enforced.

In this case, as the first successful salvor, RMST obtained an inchoate lien as a matter of law in the wreck and the artefacts. In addition, with its lien, RMST obtained the right to exclusive possession, not only of the artefacts removed from the wreck of the Titanic, but also of the wreck itself. Thus, no other person was entitled lawfully to intrude on the wreck site as long as salvage operations continued. The District Court had constructive in rem jurisdiction over the wreck of the vessel lying in international waters by having a portion of wreck within its jurisdiction, and this constructive in rem jurisdiction would continue as long as the salvage operation continued. Thus, the District Court was correct in declaring that RMST had salvage rights in the wreck of the Titanic and acted properly in entering an injunction to enjoin third parties from visiting the wreck and interfering with RMST's salvage operations.

However, the District Court was erred in extending the law of salvage to vest in the salvor exclusive rights to visit, observe and photograph the wreck and wreck site. The underlying policy of the law of salvage is to encourage voluntary assistance to ships and their cargo in distress. And the salvage service is useful to owners only when it effects a saving of the specific property at risk. The law does not include the notion that the salvor can use the property being salvaged for commercial use to compensate the salvor when the property saved might have inadequate value. There is no case in the US or in the body of law of nations has expanded salvage rights to include the exclusive rights to visit, observe and photograph a shipwreck.