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 By Randy Boswell - Canwest News Service

More than 160 years after his death in the Canadian Arctic during the ill-fated Franklin Expedition, the bones of an English sailor — among the only human remains ever repatriated from the disastrous 19th-century search for the Northwest Passage — have been laid to rest once more during a solemn rededication ceremony in London attended by Canada's High Commissioner, James Wright.

The service, also attended by Parks Canada's top marine archeologist, Robert Grenier, followed the refurbishment and relocation of a monument dedicated to the sacrifice of the expedition's 130 members, who perished in the late 1840s after their ships — the Terror and the Erebus — became locked in ice near Nunavut's King William Island.

The 20-year search for the ships commanded by Sir John Franklin yielded various artifacts and the graves of several of the doomed crewmen, including that of Lt. Henry Le Vesconte.

By Mica Rosenberg and Jackie Frank - ABC News

Scuba divers are exploring the depths of a volcanic lake in Guatemala to find clues about an ancient sacred island where Mayan pilgrims flocked to worship before it was submerged by rising waters.

Samabaj, the first underwater archaeological ruins excavated in Guatemala, were discovered accidentally 12 years ago by a diver exploring picturesque Lake Atitlan, ringed by Mayan villages and popular with foreign tourists.

"No one believed me, even when I told them all about it. They just said 'he's mad'," said Roberto Samayoa, a businessman and recreational diver who grew up near the lake where his grandmother told him legends of a sunken church.

Samayoa dived for years at the lake, often stumbling across pieces of pottery from the Mayan pre-classic period. In 1996, he found the site, with parts of buildings and huge ceremonial stones, known as stelae, clearly visible.

He named it Samabaj, after himself, but only in the past year have professional archeologists taken an interest, mapping the 4,300-square-foot (400-square-meter) area with sonar technology and excavating structures on a raised part of the lake bed.

Researchers believe this area, 50 feet below the lake's surface, was once an island until a catastrophic event, like a volcanic eruption or landslide, raised water levels.

By Guy Dinmore and Eleonora de Sabata - Financial Times

Italian prosecutors searching for the wreck of a ship allegedly scuttled by the mafia with toxic waste on board in 1992 say the vessel they surveyed this week in deep waters off the coast of Calabria turned out instead to be a passenger steamship sunk by a German submarine in 1917.

Fears of coastal pollution had led to protests by local fishermen, residents and mayors who accused the central government of not doing enough to resolve the issue.

Prosecutors told a news conference in Rome on Thursday evening that after finding the World War One wreck of the Catania they had decided to call off the search for a ship which Francesco Fonti, a mafia turncoat, claims to have sent to the bottom with dynamite in 1992.

Mr Fonti’s allegations, first made to prosecutors in 2003, followed years of inconclusive investigations into at least 20 suspicious sinkings of ships in the Mediterranean in the 1980s and 1990s.

Prosecutors suspected that the mafia was dumping toxic waste at sea, possibly working on behalf of industrialists and government agencies.

By Maev Kennedy - The Guardian

Find could help reveal fate of Sir John Franklin's ships that disappeared in hunt for North-West Passage.

A few snippets of copper may be a vital clue towards solving one of Arctic exploration's most haunting mysteries: what happened to Sir John Franklin's two superbly equipped ships when he and all 150 members of his expedition died in the search for the North-West Passage more than 160 years ago?

The fate of the 1845 expedition haunted Victorian imagination, and accounts suggesting some of his starving men prolonged their lives by cannibalism destroyed the reputation of those sent to find them.

Expensive rescue expeditions continued for almost 20 years, spurred on by Franklin's formidable widow, Jane Griffin. Evidence confirming Franklin's death was only discovered in 1859. Dumped supplies were recovered along with personal possessions, letters describing his death and those of many of his senior officers, and finally bodies, but his twin ships – the Erebus and the Terror – have never been located.

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From Reuters

Odyssey Marine Exploration has entered into a letter of intent with Robert Fraser & Partners LLP. Under the terms of the proposed arrangement, Odyssey will provide services related to the exploration and recovery of shipwrecks and other deep-ocean resources to syndicates formed by Robert Fraser & Partners to engage in deep-ocean exploration. 

Under the proposed structure, Odyssey will be compensated for search, survey and archaeological excavation as well as development of research files on specific shipwreck and other deep-ocean projects. Odyssey will also have a substantial interest in the back-end of the projects and will be paid for providing other services including conservation, documentation, marketing and sales of recovered cargoes and commodities. 

"We have long considered partnering on specific projects in a manner that is non-dilutive to Odyssey shareholders, but it has been a challenge to find a partner that understands the nuances and challenges of syndicating individual projects.

I believe we have finally found that partner, and we are currently in the process of developing the syndication of our first project with them," stated Greg Stemm, Odyssey's Chief Executive Officer. 

"This presents an exciting opportunity to move Odyssey forward and generate current revenue from marine operations, research and expertise, while maintaining a significant interest in the projects." 

"We're delighted on behalf of our clients and investors to be working with Odyssey and we anticipate developing a number of deep-ocean projects with them," commented Colin Emson, Chief Executive Officer of Robert Fraser.

"Having previously worked with a number of clients on a broad range of marine projects, we have gained a real appreciation for the first-class work that Odyssey has demonstrated in the field.

Contracting with Odyssey is seen as bringing together highly compatible skill sets for further development of this fascinating and emerging deep-sea field. We are most enthused about working with the benefit of the new exploration technologies in which Odyssey is the acknowledged world leader and look forward to securing our first contract with them as soon as possible."

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By Ray Kelly - Massachusetts Live.com

Leaders of the Indian Orchard-based Titanic Historical Society reacted with shock on Monday to news that another salvage mission to the world’s most famous shipwreck is under consideration.

“Oh, God,” said Edward S. Kamuda, president of the 4,000-member international society. “I was under the impression that they were going to lay off of this.”

The first expedition to the North Atlantic wreck site since 2004 was revealed in a filing by RMS Titanic Inc. in U.S. District Court in Norfolk, Va., where four days of hearings are scheduled this week on the company’s claim for a salvage award.

U.S. District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith, a maritime jurist who considers the wreck an “international treasure,” will preside over the hearings. They are intended to establish legal guarantees that thousands of Titanic artifacts remain intact as a collection and forever accessible to the public. Some pieces have ended up in London auction houses.

Lawyers for RMS Titanic Inc. confirmed a possible expedition in 2010 to the Associated Press, but declined to discuss the plans in detail.

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By Steve Szkotak - Associated Press

The company that has exclusive rights to salvage the Titanic is planning a possible expedition to the world's most famous shipwreck in 2010.

The first expedition to the North Atlantic wreck site since 2004 is revealed in a filing by RMS Titanic Inc. in U.S. District Court, where four days of hearings are scheduled to begin Monday on the company's claim for a salvage award.

Lawyers for RMS Titanic Inc. confirmed the expedition plans but declined to discuss them in detail.

"That is something that is being looked at right now but it's not in any way a done deal," attorney Robert W. McFarland said in an interview. He said the company would have more to say at this week's hearing.

U.S. District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith, a maritime jurist who considers the wreck an "international treasure," will preside over the hearings.

They are intended to determine a salvage award and establish legal guarantees that thousands of Titanic artifacts remain intact as a collection and forever accessible to the public. Some pieces have ended up in London auction houses.

The 5,900 pieces of china, ship fittings and personal belongings are valued in excess of $110 million and are displayed around the world by Premier Exhibitions Inc., an Atlanta company. RMS Titanic is a subsidiary of Premier.

The Titanic sank on its maiden voyage in international waters on April 15, 1912, and has been subject to competing legal claims since an international team led by oceanographer Robert Ballard found it in 1985. Since then, RMS Titanic has retrieved artifacts during six dives.

Courts have declared it salvor-in-possession — meaning it has exclusive rights to salvage the Titanic — but have explicitly stated it does not own the 5,900 artifacts or the wreck itself.

At the hearings this week in Norfolk, lawyers for RMS Titanic will essentially seek title to the artifacts and a monetary award for its salvage costs. More than a dozen experts will be called to support the company's claim, according to a court filing.

In seeking a salvage award, RMS Titanic will have to document the labor it devoted to its previous expeditions, the risks incurred during the 2 1/2-mile trips beneath the Atlantic to the Titanic wreck site, and the preservation efforts and archaeological value of the wreck and its contents, among other factors.

Smith, the judge, has drawn upon the government to help craft covenants to keep the artifacts preserved, intact as a collection and available to the public.

She is mindful of the Titanic's place in history and the 1,522 people who died when it went down after it struck ice nearly a century ago, based on her previous statements from the bench.

"I am concerned that the Titanic is not only a national treasure, but in its own way an international treasure, and it needs protection and it needs to be monitored," the judge told lawyers in the case nearly one year ago.

If the court agrees to RMS Titanic's request, the company could sell the entire collection to a museum with court approval. The company has said it has no plans to do so. The judge will also consider a competing claim.

Douglas Faulkner Woolley, a British citizen, challenges RMS Titanic's legal claim to the wreck site and plans his own salvage operation. Lawyers for RMS Titanic declined to discuss the competing challenge.

International protections have been sought for the Titanic almost since the wreck was discovered.

By Petronella Wyatt - Mail Online

Take a stroll along the secluded banks of Lake Toplitz in Austria, near what was once Hitler's propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels' sumptuous summer villa, and you will sometimes see men diving into the cold, inky water or prodding around near to the shore, with long sticks and metal detectors.

It is a dangerous business - 25 divers have lost their lives in the lake's 426 feet depths. Occasionally over the past 50 years, someone has struck lucky and retrieved a rusty box or some fragments of paper. 

However, these are not casual enthusiasts - they are seeking the Nazis' biggest treasure trove.

In metal boxes marked ' munitions' are the results of the biggest counterfeit operation in history; nearly £1billion of forged British banknotes which the nazis planned to drop into Britain to create massive inflation and destroy the economy.

Now I am preparing to dive into the lake myself. With me is a young man called Franz, who looks like Sacha Baron Cohen's character Bruno dressed in his short, tight lederhosen.

The area, 60 miles from the city of Salzburg, is the congregating ground for Austria's neo-Nazis.

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