New protection for wrecksite

This telemotor is the last piece of machinery remaining on the bridge of Titanic. Other artifacts have been pillaged from the site.

As of April 15, 2012, the Titanic comes under the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage, a special designation which applies only to shipwrecks submerged for at least 100 years.

The convention gives governments authority to close their ports to all vessels undertaking exploration not conducted in accordance with the principles of the convention, and outlaws the destruction, pillaging, sale, and dispersion of objects found at the wreck site.