US ends fight against Titanic expedition, battle over future dives possible

The U.S. government has officially ended its legal fight against an upcoming expedition to the Titanic shipwreck after the company that owns the ship's salvage rights scaled back its dive plans.

But the U.S. said in court filings last week that it may wage court battles over future expeditions if they break a federal law and an agreement with Great Britain to treat the wreck as a gravesite.

The litigation began last year after RMS Titanic Inc. announced the expedition, which is now scheduled for mid-July. The Georgia-based company originally planned to take images inside the ocean liner's severed hull and to retrieve artifacts from the debris field.

RMST also said it would possibly recover free-standing objects inside the Titanic, including from the room where the sinking ship broadcast its distress signals.

The U.S. filed its legal challenge in August, arguing that entering the Titanic or physically altering or disturbing the wreck is regulated by the 2017 federal law and pact w