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From Powerboat World


Heritage Minister Peter Garrett said the National Trust of Victoria would use $500,000 in Federal funding as a first step towards stabilising the HMVS Cerberus shipwreck. 

The Minister announced the funding during a visit to the wreck, which sits as a breakwater a few hundred metres off the beach at Melbourne’s Half Moon Bay, Black Rock. 

“Purpose-built in 1868 for the Victorian Colonial Navy, the HMVS Cerberus is a unique part of our naval heritage. It was included in the National Heritage List in December 2005,” Mr Garrett said. 

“Named after the three-headed mythological guard dog, the Cerberus was Victoria’s and then Australia’s most powerful warship. Her heavy iron structure was the prototype for 19th century steam-powered battleships. 

“After protecting Victoria from potential attacks for over 50 years, in 1924 she was declared surplus by the Navy and sold to a salvage company. The hulk was purchased for 150 pounds by the Sandringham Council, and scuttled at Half Moon Bay.

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By Chung Ah-young


A total of 515 pieces of Goryeo green porcelain noted for its shapes, patterns, glazes and firing techniques were found in Taean County in South Chungcheong Province.

According to the National Maritime Museum, the porcelain could have been possibly produced in the 12th century to the 13th century at kilns in Buan or Gangjin in Jeolla Province during the Goryeo Kingdom (918-1392), given its making techniques and patterns.

The museum said that it recovered the relics from the sea 300 meters off the west coast of Mado. The shipwreck carrying the relics has not been found yet as it could be possibly buried, according to the museum. 

The massive excavation began last year after a fisherman discovered a blue-green saucer when he pulled up a baby octopus trap from the sea, leading to the excavation of tens of thousands of lost ``treasures'' of the Goryeo Kingdom (918-1392). 

From the marine excavation, the museum recovered a total of 22,572 pieces of Goryeo celadon pieces and a shipwreck carrying the porcelain.

The museum said that the recent excavation began after a fisherman reported finding 25 celadon pieces in his net three times last year. 

Royal archives of the Goryeo Kingdom had recorded many shipwrecks in the waters near Taean County because of the strong currents.

By Jim Avila, Beth Tribolet and Emily Yacus

The gray waters of Upper Lake Michigan are deep, cold and treacherous.

And lately, they've been contentious.

A three-way court battle is brewing among an explorer who says he's found a 329-year-old shipwreck, the state of Michigan and the U.S. government.

Just as precarious as the weather that supposedly sank the Griffon in 1679, the legal battle seems to portend a perfect storm.

"This whole area has a lot of wrecks," said Capt. Carl Carlson.

"That's why they call it death's door.

There's been lives taken in the water everywhere."

The Griffon shipwreck is a legend where Wisconsin meets Michigan.

It's a 300-year-old mystery that Carlson and his diving partner, Steve Libert, are determined to solve.

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From The Jakarta Post


Forestry police at the Karimunjawa National Park captured a ship and its crew attempting to salvage material from sunken wreckage off the park's coast Friday. 

Chief investigator of the East Java national park Agus Prabowo said beside capturing the vessel -- the KM Puji Jaya -- the forestry police detained six crew members and the ship's captain, all of whom were undergoing interrogation. 

According to a preliminary inquiry, the attempted salvage, from which the suspects retrieved 1.3 tons of scrapped iron, was prevented with assistance from regency police. 

The wreckage belongs to the national park, as it lies in waters within park territory, Agus added. The incident took place near the southern tip of Sintok Island, on the Menjangan Besar waters, part of the national park. 

Another park investigator, Eko Novi, said salvaging of parts had long since been prohibited because of potential damage to coral reefs and because surrounding waters belong to the park. 

"Vessels involved in salvaging attempts have damaged numerous aquatic species, such as anthipates, as well as coral reefs, in addition to threatening the underwater ecosystem, which is protected by the 1990 Natural Resources Conservation Law," he said. 

Agus said the suspects would face natural resource conservation disturbance charges, which carry a maximum five-year jail sentence and a Rp 100 million (US$10,900) fine for convictions. 

Asked about the sunken ship's owner, Agus repeated the national park had authority to preserve the vessel wreckage because it lay within park territory. 

"They would not have been prohibited, had they tried to salvage parts outside the park's territory," he added. 

The suspects, residents of Jepara, said they planned to sell the scrapped iron in local markets and did not know salvaging from wrecks in the waters off the park was illegal. 

"We look for iron from shipwrecks, which we can sell for Rp 2,500 per kilogram. This is how we earn our living. We won't be able to pay the Rp 100 million fine," said the vessel's captain, identified as SU.

By Times of Malta.com


This year marks the 603rd anniversary of the western voyages of China's great maritime explorer, who between 1405 and 1433 led huge fleets of Chinese sailing ships on seven transoceanic expeditions.

The expeditions, which reached as far as the Red Sea and the east coast of Africa, were unprecedented in the history of maritime exploration.

Details about the voyages and the ability of this great Chinese maritime explorer are being displayed until August 10 at St James Cavalier, in Valletta.

Organised by the China Cultural Centre of Valletta and called Envoy Of Peace From China: Zheng He's Great Voyages (1405-1433), the exhibition includes replicas of contemporary maritime instruments and copies of porcelain ornaments and utensils.

During his time as a trusted friend of Zhu Di, the Prince of Yan, Zheng He came into contact with the highest echelons of China's ruling class, greatly expanding his knowledge.

In recognition of his extraordinary abilities and loyal service, the emperor chose him from among his most trusted advisors as the ideal commander for the western voyages.

His voyages marked the beginning of the age of maritime exploration in both East and West.

Undertaken before the invention of any type of mechanical propulsion and into largely uncharted waters, his voyages were exceptional feats.

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By Dominik Jůn


Public broadcaster Český Rozhlas or Czech Radio is financing an unusual project – the attempted recovery of a WWII tank rumoured to be lost somewhere at the bottom of the river Labe (or Elbe). Diving teams are trawling through the river hoping to find a lost artefact from the past.

May 1945, Nazi military units are in turmoil as Soviet troops move across Europe from the east, and American troops move in from the west. Keen to avoid leaving any easy targets for the Allies to destroy, the Nazis either hid or destroyed most of their abandoned hardware in occupied Czechoslovakia.

Earlier in February, the Allied bombing of Dresden had forced many nazis to flee into Czechoslovakia.

This is where the legend of the lost tank was born. Czech Radio along with the River Elbe Administration and the Military History Institute have been following up on a specific report found in the radio archives of a man, now sadly deceased, who claimed that there was indeed a tank at the bottom of the Elbe.

The man, one Václav Patka had helped to clear the Labe river bed of military hardware right after the end of WWII. He stated that there was indeed a tank at a place called Dolní Zleb. Now, a team of specialists is trying to find out if this is true. 


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By Roger Boyes

When Sweden scuttled 20 huge wooden warships more than 250 years ago, it was seen as a desperate measure to block the enemy Danish fleet.

Now those same wrecks could scuttle the key component of a European energy plan - the construction of a 1,200km (746-mile) gas pipeline along the cluttered floor of the Baltic Sea.

Russia and Germany are building the pipeline to avoid the political problems of transporting gas overland - Ukraine and Belarus, in the midst of price rows with the energy supplier Gazprom, have threatened to interrupt supplies to Western Europe.

The seabed route, known as Nord Stream, is turning into an obstacle course of a different kind.

Not only do 100,000 tonnes of unexploded Nord Stream ammunitions lie scattered along the route, but the German Navy is concerned that one of its live shells might hit the pipeline and set off an explosion during Baltic exercises.

By Mike Reilly

The bottom of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean are home to more than 2,000 confirmed and documented shipwrecks. Experts believe there could be another 2,000 that are not documented.

That's the word from David Southall, curator of education at the Collier County Museum. He gave a talk on the subject Tuesday at the Marco Island branch of the Collier County Public Library.

The Friends of the Library sponsored his appearance.

But his first comments to the large gathering were aimed at letting them know it was not going to be a discussion of where to find the lost treasures buried in the sea.