The Titanic remains the most haunting maritime disaster in history. But its fate, and those of the 1,500 lost souls on board, should be a call to action for all of us. Maritime history should be preserved and protected, not plundered.

The vessel was advertised as being "unsinkable." Yet, it sank, after colliding with an iceberg, killing 1,503 passengers. It's an amazing story, almost too preposterous to be true. Given all these built-in (and absolutely factual) dramatic elements, why on earth would anyone think they needed to jazz it up?