Martin Gerard Bayerle is a treasure hunter and author, best known for finding the 1909 shipwreck of the White Star Liner RMS Republic. He is also star of the History Channel show Billion Dollar Wreck. The Republic was the largest ship to sink in history to her day, only to be eclipsed by the loss of RMS Titanic in 1912. Capt. Bayerle and his company, Martha's Vineyard Scuba Headquarters, Inc. ("MAVIS") were referred to as "modern day pirates" (in the complimentary sense) in a 2005 court opinion granting exclusive salvage rights to the Republic to MAVIS. MAVIS subsequently acquired legal title to the RMS Republic shipwreck and her contents in August 2011, with the U.S. District Court of Boston also barring all future claims.