Titanic relics command stiff price at auction

NEW YORK: An anonymous collector forked over more than $130,000 for four relics from Titantic lifeboats that ferried survivors from the ill-fated oceanliner.

The items were sold on Thursday in two lots at Christie's auction house in New York.

The first lot, which went for $72,000 comprised a painted bronze flag with the insignia of the White Star line -- owner of the Titanic -- as well as a name board from one of the lifeboats bearing the luxury liner's name.

The other, comprising a "Liverpool" port sign and another bronze Titanic name board, was sold for $60,000.

The signs and flag come from lifeboats that carried passengers to safety after the infamous sinking of the Titanic on the night of April 14, 1912.

On its maiden voyage heading across the Atlantic to New York, the supposedly unsinkable liner hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic. Only 711 of its 2,200 passengers survived.

The Titanic only had enough lifeboats for half the ship's passengers due to cost-cutting measures.

The lifeboats were towed or carried onboard rescue ships to New York harbor and the items up for auction were removed before the boats were dismantled.