To mark the 100th anniversary of the Titanic tragedy, The UNESCO Courier focuses on the Underwater Cultural Heritage.

On the night of April 14 to 15, 1912, the infamous Titanic struck an iceberg and sank in a few hours in the waters of the North Atlantic. The sinking took the lives of some 1,500 people, marking the spirits forever.

As of April 15, 2012, the Titanic which was discovered in 1985 in international waters off the coast of Newfoundland (Canada), is covered by the Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage of UNESCO, which applies to the remains submerged for at least one hundred years.

On the occasion of the Titanic anniversary, the Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, expressed her concern about the ongoing destruction and pillaging of thousands of ancient shipwrecks worldwide. She stressed that the concern about the commercial exploitation of the Titanic was not a unique case, even if it was an exceptionally visible one.

For more information on the protection of the Titanic wreckage, click here.

On this occasion, the UNESCO Courrier invites you to read its special issues and articles related to underwater cultural heritage