* STAY INFORMED ON THE MOST RECENT SPECTACULAR OR SIGNIFICANT NAUTICAL AND SHIPWRECK DISCOVERIES *

the 09/11/2007 at 02:39 : Salvaging a little for the argument by Jack Haskins Regarding the article 'New Pirates of the Caribbean' (Irish Independent, November 3), writer Ed Power needs to brush up on the real world of commercial historic shipwreck salvage. In the main, the individuals who take up the challenge of finding sunken treasure ships are very conscious of the historical and cultural worth of the items they seek. Most of them spend years researching the ships and their cargos. For Spanish ships, one of the best sources is Archivo General de Indias, in Seville, Spain. Government-paid marine archaeologists came along after the commercial salvors, who back in the early days taught most of them the proper techniques for recovering valuable friable objects. After years of historical research, the commercial people employed modern electronic detection systems to explore the area where suspect wreck sites lay. When the archaeologists saw how successful the commercial salvagers had become, they showed their greed and wanted control over the whole industry, to the extent of stopping the commercial people. Because a lot of archaeologists work for government they have both political and the media connections. Exclusivity is the name of the archos game. One of the most convincing legal arguments which Columbus America, the finders of the ship of gold, 'Central America', made, was to ask the insurance company that claimed legal ownership to the ship why, with the technology and research readily available to the commercial sector, hadn't they gone after the Central America ? They had no good answer to this question. In a court of law I would pose the same question to the Kingdom of Spain. History which is left on the bottom of the sea is history lost. It is far better to bring it up and put it on display for all to study and enjoy. I won't get into how the Spanish acquired all this gold and silver in the first place.

the 11/10/2007 at 18:12 : Wooden Invoices Found in Shipwreck by Kim Rahn Wooden ``barcodes'' from the 12th century have been found in a shipwreck from the Goryeo Kingdom (A.D. 918 to 1392). The shipwreck has already unveiled 19,000 pieces of porcelain after being found underwater by a fisherman in Taean county, South Chungcheong Province, in May. According to the Cultural Heritage Administration's second report on excavation of the wooden ship Thursday, archaeologists found some 10 wooden sticks that were used as invoices. It is the first time that wooden cargo tags of the Goryeo Kingdom were found, and also the first time wooden invoices were found on a ship carrying porcelain. In 1976, a Chinese invoice was found in a shipwreck in Sinan in South Jeolla Province. The flat sticks, like current barcodes, had records about the regions that produced the porcelain, the port from where the ship left, the destination of the ship, the amount of cargo, the person in charge of transportation, and the person's signature. "The detailed records of trade are expected to help find the production and trade process of porcelain during Goryeo period, the history of shipping, the history of porcelain and sea routes, '' an official of the administration said.

the 08/10/2007 at 04:15 : Nearly 6,000 antique objects discovered off central coast from VietNamNet Bridge As many as 5,875 antique objects made of Chu Dau pottery, dating back to the 15th and 16th centuries have just been discovered. The discovery took place off the central coast of Cu Lao Cham in the town of Hoi An, Quang Nam Province. The find included ceramic objects comprising bowls, dishes, tea-sets, boxes and jars, most of them made from white enameled pottery. The items are decorated with pictures of daisies, birds, fish and landscapes. Over 15,900 antiques have been discovered in sunken ships off Cu Lao Cham since 2004. Archaeological research found that the craft of Chu Dau pottery was a center of refined ceramics that commenced around the end of the 14th century. The craft reached the pinnacle of its popularity in the 15th and 16th centuries and started to lose favor a century later. Two of antique items are found in a sunken ship off Cu Lao Cham. Quang Nam finds thousands of ceramics from Nhan Dan. Another 5,875 ancient pottery items have been salvaged from an old shipwreck off Cham island, Quang Nam province’s Department of Culture and Information said. The items are renowned Chu Dau ceramics dating back to the 15th and 16th centuries, and include bowls, cups, dishes, pots, and vases. The central province has undertaken several missions and salvaged thousands of Chu Dau ceramics items since 1998.

the 14/09/2007 at 04:35 : A modern-day treasure hunt in the Arthur Kill by Staten Island Advance Could there be a fortune lurking beneath the Arthur Kill ? In 1903 a barge listed in the channel while carrying nearly 8,000 silver bars belonging to the Guggenheim family. The precious cargo spilled over the side. Most of the bars were recovered, but it is believed about 1,400 of them -- worth $6,000 to $7,000 each -- are still scattered on the bottom of the busy shipping channel. Now, Aqua Survey, a Hunterdon County-N.J. company that specializes in environmental research, is on the hunt for the remaining bars, according to a Star Ledger report. Since the spring of 2006, it has used advanced technology to map the waters, and it believes it is close to a find. It even has petitioned a federal judge for scavenger rights.

the 07/09/2007 at 03:44 : Roman wreck may point to massive battle from IOL Nicosia - A shipwreck from the imperial Roman era, found off Cyprus, could lead to the discovery of vessels sunk in antiquity's largest naval engagement, the Battle of Salamis in 306 BC, said an official statement on Thursday. "According to (historian) Diodoros, it was somewhere in the area where in 306 BC the Macedonian (King) Demetrius Poliorketes triumphed over Ptolemy of Egypt in one of the largest naval battles of antiquity," said Cyprus' Antiquities Department. More than 300 ships were believed to have been engaged in the battle that saw Demetrius capture Cyprus. The Roman ship, dating from the first century AD, was discovered sunk off Cape Greco on the Mediterranean's southeast coast during an underwater survey to determine the area's long-term maritime history. Material found provided solid evidence of maritime traffic from the archaic or classic period. The discovery had encouraged international archaeologists working in deeper waters offshore, and more extensive mapping of the wreck and the seabed is planned for next summer.

the 15/08/2007 at 03:57 : RMS Titanic, Inc. to Conduct First Research and Recovery Expedition to the RMS Carpathia from CNN Money.com RMS Titanic, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Premier Exhibitions, Inc. , today announced that it will conduct its first research and recovery expedition at the wreck site of the RMS Carpathia. Departing from Brest, France on August 16, 2007, the expedition team will oversee the archaeological recovery of artifacts from the Carpathia along with site documentation and assessment of the overall structural integrity of the historic ship. RMS Carpathia was built in 1902 for the oceanic passenger trade, and provided service primarily between New York City, Queenstown and Liverpool, and between New York City and ports of the Mediterranean. On April 15, 1912, the Carpathia became the most famous rescue ship in the world. After receiving a distress signal from the Titanic, Carpathia's Captain Rostron quickly responded and rescued 705 passengers from the North Atlantic. Six years later on July 17, 1918, Carpathia was torpedoed by a German U-Boat and sank while transporting military passengers for the British government during World War I. Carpathia was re-discovered in 2000 by a team of shipwreck explorers funded by author Clive Cussler of the United States.

the 06/07/2007 at 18:03 : Court: Find Shipwreck, Then Split Bounty from Forbes.com A Spanish galleon that sank 300 years ago laden with treasure must first be recovered before an international dispute over the fortune can be settled, Colombia's highest court ruled Thursday. The shipwreck of the San Jose is thought to have $2 billion worth of gold, silver and emeralds in what may be the world's largest sunken treasure. The Supreme Court ruled that once the San Jose is lifted from the sea, experts can classify its artifacts following Colombian law. Pieces declared "treasure" will be split evenly between the Colombian government and Sea Search Armada, the Seattle-based company that claims to have discovered the shipwreck. Items classified as part of Colombia's cultural patrimony will be awarded solely to the government. Laden down with treasures extracted from the Americas, the San Jose sank off Colombia's Caribbean coast on June 1708 while trying to outrun British warships on its way to Spain.

the 06/07/2007 at 09:46 : A job that plumbs hidden depths by Emily Ford Darren Morgan, a salvage expert, tells what it’s like recovering high-value cargo from sunken freighters Celia was already 1,200 metres under water by the time Darren Morgan reached her. “It took 18 months of planning and preparation,” he says. But the lengthy courtship paid dividends – the salvage generated sales worth more than £1.75 million for the company. Celia, the codename given to this particular shipwreck, sank off northwest Spain in the 1970s. Morgan, head of salvage at SubSea Resources, coordinated the cargo recovery operation with a small team, retrieving about 550 tonnes of copper and zinc. “It is not treasure hunting,” he says. “These are commodity metals.” Before separating a shipwreck from its ghostly secrets, the firm first has to find it. Researchers identify possible freighter vessels lost at sea which must meet strict criteria. “Wrecks must be located in international waters and war graves are strictly off limits.” Permission must also be sought from the underwriters, who are the legal owners of the cargo. Navigators study the last sightings of the ship to pinpoint its location to within 100 nautical square miles. “We look at where survivors were picked up... what the currents were like,” he says. A target being considered for 2008-09 was sunk during the Second World War. “We have the log from the U-boat commander.”

the 18/06/2007 at 05:54 : Thousands of Pearls Found in Shipwreck from Guardian Unlimited KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) - Salvagers discovered thousands of pearls Friday in a small, lead box they said they found while searching for the wreckage of the 17th-century Spanish galleon Santa Margarita. Divers from Blue Water Ventures of Key West said they found the sealed box, measuring 3.5 inches by 5.5 inches, along with a gold bar, eight gold chains and hundreds of other artifacts earlier this week. They were apparently buried beneath the ocean floor in approximately 18 feet of water about 40 miles west of Key West.

the 30/05/2007 at 16:50 : Possible Aztec Offerings Found in Mexico by Mark Stevenson Archaeologists diving into a lake in the crater of a snowcapped volcano found wooden scepters in the shape of lightning bolts that match the description by Spanish priests and conquerors writing 500 years ago about offerings to the Aztec rain god. The lightning bolts - along with cones of copal incense and obsidian knives - were found during scuba-diving expeditions in one of the twin lakes of the extinct Nevado de Toluca volcano, at more than 13,800 feet above sea level. Scientists must still conduct tests to determine the age of the findings, but the writings after the Spanish conquest in 1521 have led them to believe the offerings were left in the frigid lake west of Mexico City more than 500 years ago.

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8
Previous page | Next page