candidate: On 14 April 2012 ( the 100th anniversary of the ship 's sinking ) , the wreck of the " Titanic " became eligible for protection as a UNESCO World Heritage Site , and in the same month , Robert Ballard , the wreck 's discoverer , has announced of a plan to preserve the wreck of the " Titanic " by using deep - sea robots to paint the wreck with anti-fouling paint , to help keep the wreck in its current state for all time .