RMST confirmed last year that a section of the bow railing has disintegrated. Credit: NOAA/IFE/URIShareThe only company legally permitted to salvage artifacts from the Titanic has confirmed it will not return to the wreckage in 2025. The decision also ends a yearslong legal battle with the US government that began before the COVID-19 pandemic. But while RMS Titanic, Inc. (RMST) isnt ruling out future expeditions entirely, its most recent visit underscored that time is running out for conservationists.Since the US granted RMST sole salvor-in-possession rights in 1994, RMST has conducted a total of eight excursions to the luxury liners historic resting place at the bottom of the North Atlantic. These operations have resulted in the recovery and conservation of thousands of items, including silverware, clothing, passengers personal effects, and a section of the hull. Its most recent mission took place over 20 days in July 2024, resulting in over two million high resolution videos and photographs. Most notably, however, was RMSTs confirmation that a portion of the forecastle decks bow railing (made famous in James Camerons Titanic) had disintegrated. Experts estimate the majority of the Titanic will disintegrate within the next few decades.According to the Associated Press, the US government decided to withdraw its motion to intervene in a federal admiralty court on January 10th, citing RMSTs decision to scrap recovery dive plans dating back to 2020. The expedition-in-question was originally intended to not only document the wreckages status, but bring back historically valuable artifacts that have spent over 112 years exposed to the crushing depth pressures and corrosive waters approximately 12,500 feet below the oceans surface. The Georgia-based company was particularly focused on retrieving items from the Titanics Marconi room. The space is named for its Marconi wireless telegraph machine, which crew used to signal the ships distress calls in Morse code.Past evidence showed the telegraph resting near the grand staircase in a deck house. At the time, the plan was to guide an uncrewed robotic submersible to the machine, either through an open skylight or by cutting open a small portion of the corroded roof. Once the team located the radio, handlers would then use the submersibles suction dredge to remove any surrounding silt while manipulator arms severed its electrical cords. Get the Popular Science newsletter Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.Although a US District Court judge initially approved RMSTs plans in 2020, the US government quickly challenged the ruling. According to the complaint, RMSTs telegraph recovery strategy violated a federal law passed in 2017 banning any future exploration that entered the hull, an umbrella phrase for disturbing any of the Titanics physical remains. The subsequent onset of the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the case from ever actually going to court.Following the 2023 Oceangate Titan submersible implosion, RMST announced its forthcoming voyage would only involve recording external images and video. The controversial trip resulted in the death of all five passengers, including Oceangates CEO, Stockton Rush, and RMSTs director of underwater research, Paul-Henri Nargeolet.The AP notes that RMST will not visit the wreck this year and has no definitive plans for future missions. At the same time, the company isnt ruling out a returnpotentially one that brings back additional artifacts before they are lost for good.[RMST will] diligently consider the strategic, legal, and financial implications of conducting future salvage operations at the site, the company wrote at the time. But regardless of what happens in the future, the US government made clear it would be paying attention.Should future circumstances warrant, the United States will file a new motion to intervene based on the facts then existing, federal lawyers wrote in their filing last week.