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May 28, 2007
Cuban Underwater Archeology Attracts Experts
Havana, May 25 (Prensa Latina) Museologists from 12 countries noted the high value of Cuba's underwater archeology, due to its unprecedented capacity to preserve the submerged cultural and patrimonial wealth.
Cuban expert Alessandro Lopez gave a lecture on underwater archeology at the Fourth Ibero-American Meeting of Museums and Historic Centers, which opened on Tuesday in Havana and is being attended by 167 specialists from the region.
The frigate Arrow, from which 2,000 pieces of English chinaware were recovered, and the brigantine Ines de Soto, which carried 33,000 of the first coins minted in the Americas, both from the 16th century, are examples of the wealth resting in the Caribbean's sea bottoms.
"We have 1,341 references of shipwrecks documented by historians, but just 130 have been discovered over the past 20 years, said Lopez, who has more than three decades' experiences as an archeologist.
Adverse weather conditions and constant attacks by corsairs and pirates in the Caribbean, in addition to bad sailing conditions in the 16th century, contributed to a large number of shipwrecks off Cuban coasts.
Lopez noted Cuba's non-lucrative interest in archeology, backed by prominent personalities like French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau (1910-1997), who worked with Cuban scientists for several years.
Salvage operations carried out in the 1970s by the Cuban company CARISUB were recorded in photos, films and videos by renowned filmmakers such as Fernando Perez (Havana Suite) and Rogelio Paris (Caravan).
Posted by victoria at 12:09 PM
May 25, 2007
What are the rules when you discover Pirate Treasure?
Updated May 24, 2007
By Steve Morales
The name and location of the wreck salvaged by Odyssey Marine Exploration are carefully guarded secrets.(Jonathan Blair/Associated Press)
An American company makes off with an estimated $500 million in gold and silver coins from a mystery ship code-named "Black Swan."
The Spanish government cries foul, suggesting the Americans plundered the treasure from its sovereign waters.
All that's missing is the Jolly Roger, Sir Francis Drake (Johnny Depp?), or yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum.
And now the American firm says it may partner with Disney to put its deep-sea adventures onto the big screen.
Call it Pirates of the Somewhere in the Atlantic: The Curse of the Black Swan.
Well, that may be a stretch. But this story has some elements of a high seas corsair drama.
Whose gold?
It revolves around Tampa-based Odyssey Marine Exploration, an undersea salvage and exploration firm. On May 18, Odyssey revealed details of a staggering find : some 17 tonnes of silver coins along with gold coins and artifacts recovered from a ship somewhere in the Atlantic.
Odyssey won't reveal the name or location of its find. The firm cites security concerns, but the Spanish government wonders if it's because the booty was plucked from its waters, meaning Spain is due a big part of the proceeds.
The Spanish government has cause to be suspicious.
Odyssey recently concluded negotiations with Spain and Britain to explore HMS Sussex, a British treasure ship that sank near Gibraltar, in Spanish waters, in 1694. It's believed that the Sussex sank with nearly nine tonnes of gold coins. That treasure is estimated to be worth anywhere from $500 million to $4 billion US, project officials say.
Odyssey, however, does not have permission to remove any treasure from the shipwreck.
And "finders keepers" is not the law of the sea.
Determining ownership
There are laws that govern deep-sea treasure hunting and exploration, but it's difficult to tell which ones apply in this case, since Odyssey won't reveal any information about the ship.
An important question is who owns the wreck, since that can determine whether cases like this count as treasure hunting or salvage. Salvage means the "salvor" (Odyssey, in this case) returns the found goods to the original owner in return for some reward. Treasure hunting is different. William Moreira, president of the Canadian Maritime Law Association, says that's a critical distinction.
"Treasure hunting is not necessarily salvage, because salvage is the right to be compensated by the owner where the owner is known and you're in a position to return the property to him," he says. "It may be that that's the case here, but typically in treasure hunting cases, that's not so, just because the stuff's been lost for so long that no owner could come forward.
"If this is some galleon that sank in the 15th century, then I don't think it's salvage, I think it's beyond that into treasure hunting, because the true owner simply can't exist anymore."
Location, location, location
Another vital consideration in any treasure-hunting case is whether the find lies within a country's territorial waters, a concept set out in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Most countries have a limit of 12 nautical miles (approximately 22 kilometres) from their coastlines, and if Odyssey's treasure ship ventured inside that limit, the company could forfeit its claim to the booty. Moreira says that's a standard rule.
"Usually, for this kind of case, there's a law saying that [the find] is owned by the government, so if it's in territorial waters, the law of the sea convention comes in and … the state would decide who owns and what compensation [the finder] is entitled to."
But if Odyssey made its find in Spanish waters and didn't tell the Spanish, the company won't end up with much.
The 1989 International Convention on Salvage says the salvor "may be deprived of the whole or part of the payment due … if the salvor has been guilty of fraud or other dishonest conduct."
"Dishonest conduct" isn't clearly defined, but if Odyssey unilaterally salvaged treasure from a ship in Spanish waters without consulting Madrid, that definitely counts as fraud, and Odyssey would lose its big payday.
"If one commits fraud, that is dishonesty with intention to deceive, then you become disentitled to whatever you'd otherwise be able to get," Moreira says.
But if this find lies in international waters and there's no one to claim ownership, Odyssey is probably in the clear — for now.
UNCITRAL (United Nations Commission on International Trade Law) is currently at work creating an Underwater Cultural Heritage agreement that would protect shipwrecks based on their archeological value. But the high seas are loosely regulated until that treaty is signed, sealed and delivered.
"If that treaty is not yet in force and if [Black Swan] is in international waters, I expect it's fair game for whoever can find it," says Moreira. "If someone can't say 'I'm the true owner of this,' then the diver could well be able to put it in his pocket and walk away with it.
"That's the reason for UNCITRAL's work on this, because there's a legal vacuum right now and that's the reason they think they need this treaty to regulate what goes on out there."
Treasure's origin 'dubious,' Spain says
For its part, Odyssey denies that "Black Swan" is the Sussex or any other ship that Spain could have some claim to.
"We can confirm that the 'Black Swan' is not HMS Sussex, and that the 'Black Swan' was not found in waters anywhere near the shipwreck believed to be HMS Sussex. Beyond that, we cannot confirm the identity of the shipwreck because we are not certain ourselves," reads a statement on the company's website.
But regardless of the ship's identity, Odyssey expressed confidence that Spain has no claim to the wreck or the recovered treasure.
"There was no point at which any aspect of the 'Black Swan' operation was within the jurisdiction of Spanish authorities, and we will be pleased to provide proof of that fact to the Spanish government if requested officially."
Spanish authorities have not blatantly accused Odyssey of any skulduggery, but have voiced suspicion.
"At the very least, the origin of the treasure is dubious," Spanish Culture Ministry spokeswoman Susana Tello told the Associated Press.
The Spanish have also expressed a determined stance to fight for what's theirs, provided that it is theirs.
"We will exercise all of our jurisdiction and rights in the hypothetical event that the find is part of Spain's heritage," said Spanish Culture Minister Carmen Calvo.
Odyssey sounds no less determined to keep its find.
"We do believe that most shipwrecks that we recover, including the 'Black Swan,' will likely result in claims by other parties," reads the online statement. "Many will be spurious claims, but we anticipate that there might be some legitimate ones as well. In the case of the 'Black Swan, it is the opinion of our legal counsel that even if a claim is deemed to be legitimate by the courts, Odyssey should still receive title to a significant majority of the recovered goods."
But until Odyssey reveals more about its mystery ship, the ultimate fate of the recovered fortune remains uncertain.
Posted by victoria at 03:13 PM
May 24, 2007
Spain severs relations with US company over shipwreck treasure
Madrid (dpa) - Spain has broken relations with a US treasure-hunting company it had allowed to search for a sunken British warship in the Strait of Gibraltar over suspicions that it has illegally exported a coin treasure found in Spanish waters, the daily El Pais reported Thursday.
Florida-based Odyssey Marine Exploration says the treasure was found in international waters and imported legally into the United States.
Odyssey had been authorized to search for the British warship HMS Sussex, which sank in 1694. The Spanish government says the company did not have permission to extract any objects on board.
Instead, Odyssey announced the discovery of another shipwreck which contained more than 500,000 silver and gold coins. The treasure is estimated to be worth half a billion dollars (370 million euros).
Spain feels the company has not given sufficient information about the operation, and suspects the wreck could be Spanish or in Spanish waters, in which case Madrid could claim the treasure.
Odyssey says it does not yet know the nationality of the wreck.
The government was investigating all the movements of Odyssey's two vessels over the past 20 days, Culture Minister Carmen Calvo said. The ministry has also requested information from the United States and Britain about an alleged Odyssey flight from Gibraltar and its cargo.
Spain has cancelled the permission to Odyssey to search for the Sussex, and does not intend to cooperate with the company again, the report said.
The search for the Sussex was based on an agreement between the US company and the British government, which would have allowed Odyssey to keep a part of the treasure of gold coins believed to be on board.
An estimated 400 shipwrecks lie in the Strait of Gibraltar alone, and Spain is wary of treasure-hunters who could loot them for commercial purposes.
Odyssey accused Spain of contradictory behaviour, saying the Spanish authorities had not even contacted the company, nor sent Spanish archaeologists to watch over the search for the Sussex as had been agreed.
Posted by victoria at 10:10 AM
UN body adopts new shipwreck rules
Thursday, 24 May 2007 10:05
The International Maritime Organisation, the United Nations agency responsible for safety and security at sea, has adopted the first-ever set of international rules for the removal of shipwrecks.
The new rules provide strong powers to act, with no legal responsibility relating to the removal of wrecks or the goods carried.
They were agreed at a five-day meeting held in Nairobi, and represents the first sweeping set of rules of its kind and which each country will sign into law.
Ireland is a member of the organisation and up to now Government's around the world have faced complex legal difficulties ín dealing with vessels wrecked on their coastlines.
According to the IMO there are an estimated 1300 potentially hazardous shipwrecks on coastlines around the world, which have been abandoned by owners trying to avoid responsibility for removing them.
This does not include listed historic or protected wrecks but are more recent shipping casualties causing environmental pollution, or threatening the safe navigation of other shipping.
The Secretary-General of the IMO, Efthimios Mitropoulos, said coastal States had been pressing for strong international laws to deal with abandoned shipwrecks and the legal framework had now been provided.
Story from RTÉ News
Posted by victoria at 10:08 AM
May 23, 2007
Recovering Artifacts From 200-year-old Shipwreck, Deep In Gulf Of Mexico
A team of Texas A&M University researchers will soon be recovering artifacts from a 200-year-old shipwreck that lies more than 4,000 feet beneath the Gulf of Mexico, making it the deepest such recovery effort ever attempted in the gulf.
The $4.8 million project, funded by the Okeanos Gas Gathering Company, will begin today (May 22) says William Bryant, professor of oceanography, and Donny Hamilton, professor of anthropology at Texas A&M. Peter Hitchcock, a doctoral student and team leader of the project, says the vessel could be one of the most historically significant shipwrecks found in the gulf.
The recovery effort is named the "Mardi Gras Shipwreck Project" after a gas pipeline in the area. While the work has been an ongoing effort for the researchers over the past two years, the fieldwork phase of the project is just beginning as the team prepares to work southwest of the Louisiana coast where the Mississippi River flows into the gulf.
Ten researchers from Texas A&M and its Department of Oceanography and Center for Maritime Archaeology will participate in the effort, as well as members of the Minerals Management Service, a division of the Department of the Interior. The group anticipates the fieldwork to be completed in about a month and an announcement of their findings could come in late June.
"This will be the first academic excavation of a deepwater shipwreck in the Gulf of Mexico," Bryant explains. "The waters are much too deep for human diving, so we use remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to retrieve objects we find. We want to stress that at this time we are focusing our efforts on retrieving items and artifacts visible on the surface, and do not plan to excavate the entire hull."
The vessel's identity and origin remain a mystery, Hitchcock adds.
Based on analysis of video documentation from previous visits to the site, the artifacts scattered on the seafloor suggest it was likely from the late 1700s or early 1800s, he notes.
"We can see a cannon, a box of weapons, navigational instruments, plates and bottles, but there really is no way to tell what else is down there," he adds.
Ultimately, the team hopes the fieldwork and conservation that follows will answer the questions surrounding the ship and provide a better understanding of its historical context.
The project will be extensively recorded and a documentary film about it is planned, the organizers say.
The team has contracted with a private firm to use the recovery ship Toisa Vigilant leased by Veolia Environmental Services. Once the artifacts are recovered and conserved at the Conservation Research Laboratory at Texas A&M, they will be delivered to the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism. Eventually, many of the objects will be displayed by the Louisiana State Museum.
"This is an exciting time for us, but also very challenging," adds Bryant, who has conducted such underwater efforts for more than 40 years.
"At this depth, the pressure is about 1,700 pounds per cubic inch. The next few weeks are going to be interesting, to say the least."
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by Texas A&M University.
A website hosted by the Florida Public Archaeology Network will provide regular updates on the expedition. It can be viewed here.
Posted by victoria at 03:26 PM
Shipwreck treasure 'hits a nerve,' says company
Last Updated: Wednesday, May 23, 2007 | 9:56 AM ET
CBC News
Spain is warning it will claim rights to a shipwrecked fortune if it was taken from its waters, as the Florida-based company that found the wreck said it's been overwhelmed by the world reaction to the discovery.
Odyssey Marine Exploration on Friday announced the recovery of more than 500,000 Colonial-era silver and gold coins possibly worth $500 million US as part of a project code-named "Black Swan."
The exploration company from Tampa has withheld details about the shipwreck, where it was found or even what kind of coins it took back to the United States in hundreds of plastic containers.
"We are overwhelmed by the worldwide interest in this project, and it reinforces our belief that shipwreck exploration hits a nerve with the public. I wasn't prepared for the response," Odyssey co-founder Greg Stemm said Monday.
Stemm spoke from Los Angeles, where he was meeting with Disney about possible projects for the large and small screens. Disney said the discussions with Odyssey started long before the company knew about the ship's treasure.
Merchant Royal or Sussex?
The discovery has made headlines around the world, with experts narrowing the possibilities down to two ships.
Spain's Culture Ministry on Monday said it was suspicious of the find because it recently gave Odyssey permission to hunt for the wreck of the HMS Sussex in the Mediterranean Sea. The ship had been delivering a massive shipment of coins to northern Italy when it sank.
Culture Minister Carmen Calvo has said Spain will claim the treasure if it was Spanish loot or was removed from its territorial waters.
British experts believe the wreck is not the Sussex but is a British ship called the Merchant Royal, which sank near the Isles of Scilly, off the southern tip of the U.K. Historians say it took on water and sank while transporting loot from Spain to Belgium.
"The Spanish government was living off the products of mines in Mexico, Lima and Peru," British shipwreck historian Richard Larn said Wednesday.
"The money was transported once a year to mainland Spain where it went into the National Exchequer, and kept the money afloat. In this particular occasion, they needed this particular sum of money to pay 30,000 troops that were in the Netherlands."
Odyssey has said the wreck is not the Sussex, but wouldn't confirm or deny reports it is the Merchant Royal.
"The 'Black Swan' bears characteristics of one shipwreck in particular, but some of the evidence gathered to date is inconsistent with our research, so we want to be sure of the identity before we announce it," the company said in a statement.
Company says recovery was legal
Odyssey said Monday that its recovery conformed with salvage laws, the site was beyond the territorial waters or legal jurisdiction of any country and the coins were legally exported to the United States.
"We do not believe that the recovery is subject to sovereign immunity by any nation pursuant to the Law of the Sea Convention," the company said in a statement.
Last year, Odyssey petitioned a U.S. federal court for exclusive rights to salvage a shipwreck site near the English Channel.
At the time, the company said it had likely found the remains of a 17th-century merchant vessel that sank with valuable cargo aboard about 65 kilometres off the southwestern tip of England. A judge signed an order granting those rights last month.
With files from the Associated Press
Posted by victoria at 03:23 PM
May 22, 2007
Japan WWII sailors stay in wreck
By Nick Bryant
BBC News, Sydney
The submarine was involved in an attack on Sydney Harbour
The bodies of two Japanese sailors are to be left in the wreck of their submarine, which was involved in an attack on Sydney harbour in 1942.
The Australian government has said it will present a jar of sand from the seabed to the families of the two men.
The government has also declared the location of the wreck, 50km (31 miles) off the coast, an historic site.
The submarine was part of an operation at the height of World War II, aimed at disrupting US and Australian shipping.
Protected site
Three submarines were involved in the operation, evading protective nets stretched across the entrance to Sydney harbour and sinking an Australian naval vessel, killing 19 sailors and two Britons.
Two of the submarines were damaged during the attack, and then scuttled by their crews. But a third escaped, only to be discovered on the ocean floor by amateur divers more than 60 years later.
Now elite navy divers have managed to reach the barnacle-encrusted wreck, and are convinced that the remains of its two-man crew - Lt Katsuhisa Ban and PO Mamoru Ashibe - are still on board.
They found the ladder the pair would have used to escape stowed on the outside of the vessel.
Sand gathered from close to the wreckage during the dive will now be sent to the submariners' families in Japan.
But raising the vessel and retrieving the remains has been ruled out, because of the cost and difficulty of salvage operations in the open sea.
Instead the government has declared the wreck an historic site, protected from curious divers by sonar alarms and underwater cameras.
Posted by victoria at 03:36 PM
May 21, 2007
Cutty Sark needs money as police hunt for clues
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article18...
Times Online and PA news
Aerial photograph of the remains of the Cutty Sark in Greenwich, East London after a fire yesterday. (Tim Ockenden/PA)
Forensic scientists and fire investigators combed the burned remains of the Cutty Sark today for clues about yesterday's suspicious fire.
Police photographers were among the first to be allowed onto the site of the blaze at a dry dock in Greenwich, south east London.
Detectives are treating the fire on the ship as suspicious and are examining CCTV footage taken in the hours before emergency services were alerted at 4.46am yesterday. London Fire Brigade investigators are concentrating on finding the source of the fire, reported by witnesses to be near the middle of the ship.
The Cutty Sark Trust, which manages the tea clipper, which once sailed from Australia to London in just 67 days, said the wreckage is a crime scene and only investigators have access.
Conservation workers must wait to find out whether the ship's wrought iron hull, built in 1860s to maximise her grace and speed, may have buckled in the heat. So far, conservationists have expressed cautious optimism that many of the Cutty Sark's main timbers only suffered burns to their surface but the damage to the hull will only be determined by structural engineers.
The Trust is appealing to supporters across the world to help raise the millions of pounds needed to rebuild the clipper. The Duke of Edinburgh was expected to see the scale of the task for himself on a visit to Greenwich this afternoon.
Prince Philip, president of the Cutty Sark Trust, is a keen naval historian and already a supporter of the £25 million restoration project which was already underway and may have saved the ship because it involved the removal of many parts, including its masts, coach houses and planking from the dry dock where the fire took place.
The fire damage is expected to add millions to the final restoration bill and seriously delay the anticipated public reopening date in 2009.
Richard Doughty, chief executive of the Cutty Sark Trust, said: “The Cutty Sark is a national treasure, a piece of maritime history that we must save. We have already been overwhelmed by the public response from all corners of the world, who are so saddened by yesterday’s fire. “We are calling on people everywhere to donate funds to help us preserve this glorious ship for future generations.”
The trust said that an anonymous donor has already pledged £100,000 to the restoration appeal fund. Louise Massara, of the Trust, said the sum was a welcome kick-start for the appeal and that many smaller donations had already been made to a dedicated website, which had raised more than £14,000 as of this afternoon. “All of the small amounts coming in are making a huge difference as well and are greatly appreciated," she said.
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Posted by victoria at 03:07 PM
May 18, 2007
Shipwreck yields historic riches -- $500M worth
TAMPA, Florida (AP) -- Deep-sea explorers said Friday they have mined what could be the richest shipwreck treasure in history, bringing home 17 tons of colonial-era silver and gold coins from an undisclosed site in the Atlantic Ocean.
Estimated value: $500 million.
A jet chartered by Tampa-based Odyssey Marine Exploration landed in the United States recently with hundreds of plastic containers brimming with coins raised from the ocean floor, Odyssey co-chairman Greg Stemm said. The more than 500,000 pieces are expected to fetch an average of $1,000 each from collectors and investors.
"For this colonial era, I think (the find) is unprecedented," said rare coin expert Nick Bruyer, who examined a batch of coins from the wreck. "I don't know of anything equal or comparable to it."
Citing security concerns, the company declined to release any details about the ship or the wreck site Friday. Stemm said a formal announcement will come later, but court records indicate the coins might come from a 400-year-old ship found off England.
Because the shipwreck was found in a lane where many colonial-era vessels went down, there is still some uncertainty about its nationality, size and age, Stemm said, although evidence points to a specific known shipwreck. The site is beyond the territorial waters or legal jurisdiction of any country, he said.
"Rather than a shout of glee, it's more being able to exhale for the first time in a long time," Stemm said of the haul, by far the biggest in Odyssey's 13-year history.
He wouldn't say if the loot was taken from the same wreck site near the English Channel that Odyssey recently petitioned a federal court for permission to salvage.
In seeking exclusive rights to that site, an Odyssey attorney told a federal judge last fall that the company likely had found the remains of a 17th-century merchant vessel that sank with valuable cargo aboard, about 40 miles off the southwestern tip of England. A judge signed an order granting those rights last month.
Secret project
In keeping with the secretive nature of the project dubbed "Black Swan," Odyssey also isn't talking yet about the types, denominations and country of origin of the coins.
Bruyer said he observed a wide range of varieties and dates of likely uncirculated currency in much better condition than artifacts yielded by most shipwrecks of a similar age.
The Black Swan coins -- mostly silver pieces -- likely will fetch several hundred dollars to several thousand dollars each, with some possibly commanding much more, he said. Value is determined by rarity, condition and the story behind them.
Controlled release of the coins into the market along with their expected high value to collectors likely will keep prices at a premium, he said.
The richest ever shipwreck haul was yielded by the Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Atocha, which sank in a hurricane off the Florida Keys in 1622. Treasure-hunting pioneer Mel Fisher found it in 1985, retrieving a reported $400 million in coins and other loot.
Odyssey likely will return to the same spot for more coins and artifacts.
"We have treated this site with kid gloves and the archaeological work done by our team out there is unsurpassed," Odyssey CEO John Morris said. "We are thoroughly documenting and recording the site, which we believe will have immense historical significance."
Publicly traded company
The news is timely for Odyssey, the only publicly traded company of its kind.
The company salvaged more than 50,000 coins and other artifacts from the wreck of the SS Republic off Savannah, Georgia, in 2003, making millions. But Odyssey posted losses in 2005 and 2006 while using its expensive, state-of-the-art ships and deep-water robotic equipment to hunt for the next mother lode.
"The outside world now understands that what we do is a real business and is repeatable and not just a lucky one shot deal," Stemm said. "I don't know of anybody else who has hit more than one economically significant shipwreck."
In January, Odyssey won permission from the Spanish government to resume a suspended search for the wreck of the HMS Sussex, which was leading a British fleet into the Mediterranean Sea for a war against France in 1694 when it sank in a storm off Gibraltar.
Historians believe the 157-foot warship was carrying nine tons of gold coins to buy the loyalty of the Duke of Savoy, a potential ally in southeastern France. Odyssey believes those coins could also fetch more than $500 million.
But under the terms of a historic agreement Odyssey will have to share any finds with the British government. The company will get 80 percent of the first $45 million and about 50 percent of the proceeds thereafter.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Posted by victoria at 12:39 PM
May 17, 2007
Revealing wreckage of Maine-built ship re-emerges
Pacific Ocean currents unearth a mid-1800s clipper -- again -- and offer a look at nautical history.
— By DAVID HENCH
Staff Writer
Weathered timbers have been rising gradually from a San Francisco beach in recent days, promising a rare glimpse of a 150-year-old Maine shipbuilding tradition well-preserved by its sandy burial.
The King Philip, a prestigious medium clipper launched in 1856 in Alna, ran aground in this West Coast harbor 22 years later, a tired, outmoded vessel that had endured two mutinies, been set on fire and been relegated to hauling bird manure and lumber.
"She could have sunk deep or she could have been burned, but because she sank where she did and buried herself, we have an exciting and tangible reminder of ships long past and the days of wooden sail," said maritime archaeologist James Delgado, executive director of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology.
"We also have a well-preserved example of naval architecture at a time when Maine led the nation in shipbuilding and ships like this waved the American flag all over the seven seas."
Delgado did the initial mapping of the wreck when it first emerged from the sand in the 1980s, documenting the ship and getting it placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
His research took him to Alna, where the homestead of the shipbuilder, Dennett Wemouth, still stands, and where he was able to find the ship's sail plan in the attic.
The structures emerging from the sand right now are the bow and stern, which rise three feet higher than the rest of the ship, he said.
"The entire bottom of the ship is there beneath the sand," he said. "Everything from just below 'tween' deck to the keel has survived."
Had the ship's end been more spectacular, such as being dashed onto the rocks, it would not have been as intact, he said.
"This is about the best-preserved prototypical downeaster that we know of," he said. "Maine built the bulk of America's wooden ships after the Civil War. The majority of those were either downeasters or the large schooners. King Philip is at the beginning of that tradition."
The King Philip is a medium clipper. It was not technically a clipper ship, being built bigger to haul more cargo, but was still built for some speed, he said. It was 182 feet long, 36 feet wide and 24 feet deep, weighing 1,189 tons, according to the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath.
The King Philip was launched from Alna for its Boston-based owners and traveled all over the world, including Australia and the South Pacific.
There was a mutiny in Honolulu, Hawaii, and another off Annapolis, Md., where the crew set fire to the ship.
The mutinies were a sign of the economic decline of that class of wooden sailing ships, as companies sought to remain competitive with other boats, including steamships.
Owners sought to save money by cutting back on maintenance and on the size of the crew, which was responsible for sailing the vessel and handling its cargo, Delgado said.
By 1878, the ship was hauling lumber from Puget Sound to San Francisco, "a workaday trade where she had been built for loftier dreams, of hauling riches from the South Pacific," Delgado said.
When the King Philip pulled its anchor and ran aground on the western shore of San Francisco, the hull was sold for $1,000 to a local storeowner, who recovered what items he could and then used dynamite on the upper decks so he could more easily salvage the copper and bronze used in its construction.
Like the feet of a beachcomber standing in the surf, the hull gradually sank into the sand and disappeared for more than 100 years.
A confluence of currents exposed it in the 1980s, when Delgado surveyed it, but sand from road construction buried it again. Now it is back and is causing a flurry of excitement among tourists, locals and historians.
"People love it," said Stephen Haller, historian for the National Park Service's Golden Gate National Recreation Artea. "It's been a magnet for locals and out-of-town visitors alike that really reminds them of the romance of the sea or the mystery of shipwrecks, that sort of thing."
Staff Writer David Hench can be contacted at 791-6327 or at:
dhench@pressherald.com
Posted by victoria at 08:44 AM
May 07, 2007
Shipwreck survivors' camp to be excavated
Archaeologists have won a Federal Government grant to excavate the camp used by the survivors of Tasmania's first shipwreck.
The crew of the Sydney Cove beached their ship on Preservation Island in 1797, because it was taking on water.
In the past 20 years the ship itself and parts of the survivors' camp have been dug up and studied, and the wreck project will now share in $400,000 worth of federal funding.
A conservator at Launceston's Queen Victoria Museum, Linda Clark, says the Sydney Cove's cargo has helped historians bring to life the earliest years of Australian settlement.
"It was only eight or nine years after the colony was established and although there were about five merchant ships that came from India to Australia, this is the earliest wreck," Ms Clark said.
"So it really gives us a fantastic insight into what goods were available to people living in the colony."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1915869.htm
Posted by victoria at 11:57 AM
May 04, 2007
Burt Reynolds museum head presses North Carolina to accelerate work on shipwreck
By KIT BRADSHAW
kit.bradshaw@scripps.com
May 2, 2007
Beneath his quiet manner is the heart of an adventurer.
Mike Daniel, known locally as head of the Burt Reynolds & Friends Museum, wears an entirely different hat when he travels north.
In the waters off Atlantic Beach, N.C., Daniel has found wreckage of the ship that belonged to the notorious pirate Blackbeard. It was a vessel called "Queen Anne's Revenge."
Ten years ago, Daniel brought up the largest and most valuable artifact to date, the ship's bell. In a few days, most of the booty from the shipwreck is now part of a museum.
"I gave my 10 percent share of the treasure to the state of North Carolina," Daniel said, "And this share would be worth about $10 million. But in the 10 years the state has been working on it, they have dived the shipwreck for a total of 50 days, recovering artifacts. They dive for about two weeks a year. It is a typical government running a project. I look at it and I throw my hands up."
Daniel said the find is one of the most important shipwrecks ever found, and the oldest in found in North Carolina. And, he adds, it is a find of which he is particularly proud.
"It is extremely rich in artifacts, because pirates were like drug dealers today, they stole everything. The bell, which is to date the most important piece, we found on Nov. 21, 1996, and we found it in just 15 minutes," Daniel said.
"But you get into the government's department and they aren't that qualified, and I think they are a little bit afraid of it. Mostly, it is just getting the money," said Daniel.
According to information from North Carolina's Queen Anne's Revenge Web site, divers with Intersal Inc. had been conducting surveys of the area near the Beaufort Inlet for about 10 years. They hired Daniel, who has a reputation as a shipwreck researcher, to direct the field operations. Daniel used historical accounts provided by Intersal and selected an area to survey that he felt encompassed the inlet's 18th century entrance channel area.
The crew soon brought up the bronze bell, dated 1705 as well as other artifacts including a brass blunderbuss barrel.
Following the find, which was determined most likely that of Queen Anne's Revenge, agreements were made with Intersal, its nonprofit Maritime Research Institute and the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources.
The treasure hunter said hundreds of artifacts remain in the water, and many of them could be brought to the surface more efficiently if North Carolina officials would devote more time to diving for the items and working to preserve them.
Artifacts brought from the sea must first be put into water so they can gradually lose the salts that are in them.
"They want to bring up a cannon," Daniel said. "But it takes three or four years to preserve a cannon — you can get it and put it into a canal or water to preserve it. But they still should be getting a lot of the good stuff, and they are not."
North Carolina officials say that the shipwreck could be fully excavated in three years, but Daniel said that at this point, perhaps 15 percent of the wreck has been excavated.
"Every time they dive, I go to North Carolina," Daniel said. "I keep the fire lit so they continue to work. This past year, because I went to the Legislature, they worked a total of 18 days, and, they said, recovered about 15 percent of the shipwreck."
Daniel said the recovery work is even more important now that the Army Corps of Engineers has created a 600-foot sandbar to protect the shipwreck. "It works great until you get 20-foot seas and they break on the sandbar," he said.
Queen Anne's Revenge ran aground in 1718. Some believe it was a French slave ship, La Concorde, that had been captured a year before and renamed when Blackbeard captured it.
"This is an extremely valuable find, and could be one of the greatest collections of all time, if they get it out of the water and on tour," Daniel said.
QUICK FACTS ABOUT BLACKBEARD
• Real name is either Edward Thatch or Edward Teach
• Was a privateer in Queen Anne's War (1701-1714), then turned to piracy
• Operated off Delaware and Chesapeake Bay until 1717, when he went to the eastern Caribbean.
• Captured French slave ship, "La Concorde," and renamed it "Queen Anne's Revenge."
• After plundering ships in the Caribbean, he sailed to South Carolina where he blockaded Charleston for a week.
• Queen Anne's Revenge grounded near Beaufort Inlet, N.C. and was abandoned.
• Blackbeard was later killed in battle with authorities.
Posted by victoria at 07:01 AM
May 02, 2007
DOXA WINNERS APRIL 2007
Thanks to all who entered. Stay tuned to SWC for more contests and news are our next expedition.
ANSWERS
WARREN: ENDURANCE \ MIKE: THISTLEGORM \ JIM: SAVANNAH, S.S.
WINNERS
DOXA SUB750T
Johns Harvey GLOUCESTER, MA
DOXA Orange Jenny Logo Ball Caps
Nicholas Cea STONY BROOK, NY
Kristi Mathis ERIE, CO
Ian Rome HOLLAND LANDING, ONT
Heather Palmer CHRISTCHURCH DORSET, UK
Grant Elder WICHITA, KS
Bruce Mahanke MARCO, ISLAND, FL
Tracy McDermott WAMBERAL, NEW SOUTH WALES
Omitted from the video (sorry)
Jennifer Ploeger BELLEVILLE, ONT
Posted by victoria at 04:46 PM
