Shipwreck News

Mary Rose Artefacts Displayed

2009-10-12T04:34:00.000-07:00

Sunk in 1545 by the French fleet, the Mary Rose was discovered in 1982 off the Southern shore of Britain. The Mary Rose was the pride of Henry VIII navy, and she went down with 500 hands.

The full article is in the English paper The Daily Mail. It has plenty of fascinating pictures and can be seen by clicking here

Odyssey Marine Strikes HMS Victory Deal

2009-09-20T17:15:00.000-07:00

It has just been reported by AP that Odyssey Marine Exploration and the British Government have reached a deal on artifacts recovered from the wreck of HMS Victory, that was discovered earlier this year.

More details of the story can be read by clicking this link.

Jim Kennard Great Lakes Shipwreck Presentation

2009-06-11T09:56:00.000-07:00

6/11/2009 If you are in the Great Lakes area this weekend and are into shipwreck discoveries you may want to check this event at the Red Barn in Sackets Harbor. Jim Kennard will be presenting on the shipwrecks Homer Warren and Etta Belle amongst others.

Explorer to present talk about shipwrecks Saturday in Sackets

SACKETS HARBOR — Noted shipwreck explorer Jim Kennard will present an all-day program on the "Shipwrecks of Lake Ontario" at 10 a.m. Saturday as part of the 2009 Great Lakes Seaway Trail Experience Series. Mr. Kennard's discoveries have received worldwide attention and have been featured in National Geographic Magazine...

The full article can be read here from the Watertown Daily Times.

Judge rules for Spain

2009-06-04T16:00:00.000-07:00

6/4/2009 This story broke today and has had a lot of coverage over the internet. I'm not sure where I stand on this one. The treasure was Spain's even though they stole it from the New World, but on the other hand they have had 200 years to find it and did nothing about finding it.

TAMPA, Fla. – Florida deep-sea explorers who raised an estimated $500 million treasure from the 200-year-old wreck of a Spanish galleon should give all the loot back to Spain, a federal magistrate judge said.

But the two-year tug-of-war over the 17 tons of silver coins and other artifacts from what is believed to be the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes y las Animas is likely far from over...

Click here for the rest of the article on Yahoo News

Million pound contract for the Rooswijk awarded

2009-05-29T07:04:00.000-07:00

5/29/09 I came across this snippet in the Western Morning News today. A nice million pound contract for Geosa. Click the link below for the full story...

A WESTCOUNTRY oceanographer is hoping a £1 million contract to excavate a Dutch shipwreck will be the key to creating world-class scientific laboratories in the region.

Plymouth-based Geosa is to carry out recovery work for the second time, on Rooswijk, a Dutch East India Company trading vessel which sank in the English Channel in 1740. The Dutch government contract will include surveying, excavation, recovery and conservation of artefacts from the sunken ship.

The firm was also behind the excavation of the bow of King Henry VIII's warship Mary Rose, which included the recovery of the stem of the vessel in 2005...

Click here to read the full article

The dangers of wreck diving

2009-05-26T08:29:00.000-07:00

5/26/2009 My condolences to the family of Carl Spencer, a very experienced wreck diver who has sadly passed away. Even with all the technological advances this still remains a very dangerous activity, and this serves as a stark reminder of the perils that await the brave men and women who push the boundaries whilst helping us all discover what happened to the countless wrecks on our ocean bottoms.

A highly respected British diver has died during the exploration of a shipwreck off the coast of Greece.

Carl Spencer, 37, had been leading a 17-man National Geographic Society expedition to film Britannic, sister ship of Titanic, off the island of Kea when he suffered severe decompression sickness (DCS), also known as the bends, during an emergency ascent to the surface.

The 53,000-ton Britannic, even larger than her famous sibling and deemed equally “unsinkable”, was lost in 57 minutes after hitting a mine in 1916, while serving as a hospital ship during the First World War.

The wreck was discovered in 1975 by the French undersea explorer Jacques Cousteau, but, lying at about 300ft (90m), it pushes divers to the limits of endurance....

The full article can be read here:
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6359021.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=797093

Search for the Henry Ford

2009-05-25T04:59:00.000-07:00

5/25/2009 A good article published in The Western Star today about the search for the Henry Ford, a schooner famous for racing the Bluenose. The Picture above shows the Henry Ford racing the Bluenose.

No success yet, but search to continue for historical shipwreck off Norris Point print this article

NORRIS POINT
ASHLEY FITZPATRICK
The Western Star

Divers looking for the boat that beat the Bluenose have not yet found the shipwreck, but are also not ready to give up the search.

The true name of the boat is the Henry Ford. It is a fishing schooner built in Essex, Mass. Part of the Gloucester fishing fleet as of 1922, the Henry Ford was named for the famed American automaker and raced against the Bluenose to victories on more than one occasion. The victories, however, were never considered official.

In 1926, the Henry Ford was lost in a shipwreck. It is believed by divers with Newfoundland’s Ocean Quest Adventures to have struck a reef in the Bonne Bay area.

The site is known locally as Whale Back or Whale’s Back Ridge.

Over the Victoria Day long weekend, the team from Ocean Quest, along with interested guests, entered the waters around Whale’s Back Ridge and began a search for remnants of the Henry Ford.

Andrew Hiscock, an archaeologist with the team, said high winds and high waves impeded the search on Friday and Saturday.

On Sunday the crew had better luck, with the weather co-operating enough for five dives (about 45 minutes each), with 10 divers in the water, said Hiscock. That was not enough time. “We searched about one third of the reef,” he said.

The search yielded no treasures. Yet, because so little of the reef was covered in this trip, the Ocean Quest crew has determined it will head back to the reef in June to try to complete the search. If it still cannot cover the area in that time, Hiscock said, an additional return trip will likely be planned.

“We’re excited to head on back,” said Hiscock, who has researched the Henry Ford for the last seven months and selected the general dive area.

Hiscock said the Henry Ford has historical significance. He said the captain of the Henry Ford, Clayton Morrissey, was also captain of the Effie M. Morrissey for a brief period. The Effie M. Morrissey was the ship Bob Bartlett sailed in his Explorer Club and National Geographic adventures. It is the ship being rebuilt for this year’s Bob Bartlett celebrations. Effie M. Morrissey is also the sister of Clayton Morrissey.

Hiscock has maintained a blog including some of his historical research findings on the Henry Ford and notes on the search at the Ocean Quest Adventures website. He believes that the Ford will be found, even if it is not fully intact. “If we had a full day on it, we could search the entire area and I think we’d find something,” he said.

Yet even with the absence of a find, Hiscock said the area around the reef was worth the trip and hopes to have the team highlight it in future tours offered by the recreational dive company.

“It’s a kilometre out and you can see the bottom as clear as day,” he said. “It’s amazing.”

During dives on Sunday, the team was able to capture images of dramatic sea stars and even wolffish living in rocky hideaways. The striped wolffish is endangered.

“One of the biggest draws of the area — it’s called the wall. It’s a sheer drop down to depths you can’t dive on compressed air,” said Hiscock. “But the wall is just teeming with stuff, with life.”

Hiscock said Ocean Quest Adventures will be including a dive in the Bonne Bay area in the upcoming Atlantic Canada Challenge. The challenge, essentially a recreational dive tour, will include a marathon exploration of dive points from Port aux Basques to Conception Bay South and is a joint project between Ocean Quest Adventures and Marlin Diving Enterprises Inc. in Cape Breton.

Wreck diving suggestions

2009-05-24T13:14:00.001-07:00

5/24/2009 For the recreational wreck divers out there, you may want to to read this article from oworldo.com on the 10 most beautiful wreck dives. As with all lists such as these there is a certain amount of subjectivity involved, and if nothing it will stir healthy debate amongst the wreck diving community as to which is really the best! A good article enjoy the read.

Wrecks getting wrecked!

2009-05-21T07:05:00.001-07:00

5/20/2009 This short article was published in the Times of London today. Just another reason why we need to find the wrecks asap...

Trawlers are destroying historic wrecks, say explorers

The wreck of HMS Victory, a British warship sunk in the English Channel in 1744, is being destroyed by fishing trawlers, according to the American treasure hunters who discovered the site last year.

Odyssey — the world’s only publicly-listed shipwreck exploration company — surveyed 4,725 sq miles (12,300 sq km) of the western Channel during its search for high-value shipwrecks. It discovered 267 wrecks, of which 112, or 41 per cent, show evidence of damage from a type of fishing known as bottom trawling.

The site of HMS Victory shows nets and cables snagged around cannon and ballast blocks. Three bronze cannon were displaced. One, a 42-pounder weighing 4 tonnes, was dragged 55 metres and flipped upside down. Two other cannon recovered by the company last year show fresh scratches from trawls and damage caused by friction from nets or cables.

Scottish artifacts returned

2009-05-11T14:32:00.000-07:00

5/11/2009 Scottish tea set returned after 104 year exile in Australia, read on...

A Victorian coffee pot and cream jug salvaged from the steamer City of Aberdeen, which foundered near Portlethen in January 1871, have been donated to Aberdeen Maritime Museum.

Lord Provost Peter Stephen and John Edwards (Curator of the Maritime Museum)Australian pensioner Margo Rutherford, who is in her 90s, has donated the items to the museum because she wants to see them returned to their home city.

The silver jug and coffee pot, which are in excellent condition, have been prized Rutherford family heirlooms since they were acquired by Mrs Rutherford's husband's grandfather in 1871. The items were taken to Australia when his son emigrated there about 1905.

Mrs Rutherford said: "For well over a century this beautiful coffee pot and lovely cream jug have been cared for by my family here in Australia, and they've brought us a great deal of pleasure over these years. Indeed, after so long, they've become a part of my family, and it's been very hard to part with them.

"However, my daughter Debbie and I feel that the time now has come for them to return home to Aberdeen. By donating them to the Maritime Museum, we know that they will continue bringing pleasure to many more people across the years ahead, and a pleasure shared is a pleasure doubled."

Mrs Rutherford explained in a letter to Lord Provost Peter Stephen that her late husband's grandfather, James Rutherford, who lived in Newcastle upon Tyne, bought the coffee pot and jug as salvage from the ship.

They were taken to Australia by Mrs Rutherford's father-in-law John Rutherford. Her husband, James, inherited the items when his father died, and Mrs Rutherford has looked after them since her marriage in 1945.

The jug and pot are in excellent condition, aside from a small bruise on the cream jug, probably caused when the ship ran aground on the morning of January 20, 1871.

The crew survived, but the 682-tonne iron screw steamer City of Aberdeen, which was owned and operated by the Aberdeen Steam Navigation Company, did not.

The vessel had been traveling from London to Aberdeen when she ran aground. Part of the cargo, materials and cabin stores were saved. The hull and machinery were sold at auction for £200, 10 days after the ship was wrecked.

The Lord Provost said: "This is an extremely generous donation, for which we are very grateful. I am sure that the people of Aberdeen, and visitors to the city, will appreciate the opportunity to see these lovely items and learn of their history.

"In Scotland, the year 2009 is the year of Homecoming, whereby Scots who have traveled far and wide return home to re-visit their roots. Now we can say that these wonderful objects have also come home.

"There is something quite charming about the coffee pot and cream jug coming back to their rightful place."

The letters "C" and "A" surrounded by a strap – thought to be the City of Aberdeen's crest – is engraved on either side of each of the ornate silver containers, which were packaged for international transit by the Maritime Museum in Perth [Australia].

Both items were made for traveling at sea and have wide bases, presumably for stability during rough weather.

The City of Aberdeen was an iron screw steamer, built in 1865 at Port Glasgow by Duncan. The 682-tonne vessel was owned by the Aberdeen Steam Navigation Co. She was 227.5feet long, 29.4ft wide and 16ft deep.

Viking ship found in Swedish lake

2009-05-08T16:54:00.000-07:00

5/8/09: This should have the Viking lovers busy for a while...

Viking ship discovered in Sweden's largest lake

Marine archaeologists in Sweden have discovered what they believe to be the wreck of a Viking ship at the bottom the country's largest lake.

A team of 50 divers from the Swedish coastguard happened upon the 20-metre long wreck by chance on Wednesday afternoon.

"Never before has a Viking shipwreck been found in Swedish waters," marine archaeologist Roland Peterson from the Vänern Museum told The Local.

A few Viking boats have previously been discovered in Sweden, but earlier finds were made on dry land, Peterson explained.

One of the ship's ribs was discovered protruding from the bottom of the lake, while the rest of the boat was filled with a one metre-thick layer of sediment.

A wood sample from the ship, as well as iron samples from a spear and a sword found with the vessel, are to undergo expert analysis over the coming weeks.

"We can't be sure of anything until we get the dating results back, which could take around a month. But the sword did seem semi-familiar," said Peterson, referring to the weapon's apparent similarity to earlier Viking era finds.

The ship's clinker-built structure also strengthened the hypothesis that the vessel found in the Lurö archipelago, in the middle of Lake Vänern, dates from the Viking era. Vänern is Europe's third largest lake, with an area measuring 5,648 square kilometres.

The Swedish coastguard and the Vänern Museum are currently involved in a joint project to discover and examine shipwrecks lodged at the bottom the vast lake.

Six other wrecks have also been discovered within a 100 metre radius, three of which were found lying almost on top of each other.

"But it's too early to say whether these date from the same era," said Peterson.

The Viking Age marked the end of the Scandinavian Iron Age and spanned the period from the eighth to the eleventh century.

Where there are wrecks, there is money!

2009-05-08T09:35:00.000-07:00

5/8/2009: The premier wreck searchers release Q1 results, they also give some color on their projects in progress...

Odyssey Marine Exploration Announces First Quarter 2009 Results

TAMPA, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (Nasdaq:OMEX), pioneers in the field of deep-ocean shipwreck exploration, today filed a quarterly report with the Securities and Exchange Commission detailing results of the Company's first quarter 2009.

For the first quarter of 2009, Odyssey reported revenues of $0.6 million, compared to $0.3 million in the first quarter 2008. The Company also reported a net loss of $5.3 million, compared to a net loss of $6.8 million in 2008. The net loss per share for the first quarter was $0.10, compared to a net loss of $0.14 per share in the first quarter 2008.

"The first quarter of 2009 was an interesting and exciting time for Odyssey. We had a full plate with events as diverse as the US season premiere of Discovery Channel’s 12-episode series 'Treasure Quest' in January, followed by the announcement of our discovery of Balchin’s HMS Victory in February, and the Ringing of the Opening Bell at the NASDAQ MarketSite in March. In addition, the Odyssey Explorer was busy working in the 'Atlas' area, and we had excellent weather for this time of year, which enabled us to cover a lot of ground. We are very excited about the momentum we have built in both operations and brand recognition. With some new search technology we have added to the Explorer and the renewal of our deal with Discovery Channel, we are looking forward to a productive 2009,” said Greg Stemm, Odyssey’s Chief Executive Officer.

FIRST QUARTER 2009 RESULTS

Revenue

The increase in revenue of $0.3 million is primarily related to an increase of over 500 more silver coins sold in 2009 versus 2008 largely attributed to the increase of distributors in our global distribution network. Distributor sales activities were bolstered by the tremendous brand awareness in the period as a result of the announcement of the discovery of HMS Victory, the launch of “Treasure Quest” on Discovery Channel, and the continued run of SHIPWRECK! Pirates & Treasure (the Company’s traveling attraction) at Science Museum Oklahoma.

Expenses

Marketing, general and administrative expenses were $2.7 million in 2009 as compared to $3.3 million in 2008. The decrease of $0.6 million was primarily attributable to lower employee-related expenses including contract labor, bonus accruals and share-based compensation.

Operations and research expenses primarily include all costs within the following departments: Archaeology, Conservation, Research, and Marine Operations, which include all vessel operations. Operations and research expenses were $3.0 million in 2009 as compared to $3.8 million in 2008. The $0.8 million decrease was primarily due to lower vessel operating expenses attributable to lower vessel repairs and maintenance.

QUARTERLY OPERATIONAL UPDATE

We have numerous shipwreck projects in various stages of development around the world. In order to protect the identities of the targets of our planned search or recovery operations, in some cases we will defer disclosing specific information relating to our projects until we have located a shipwreck or shipwrecks of interest and determined a course of action to protect our property rights.

Additional information regarding projects discussed herein may be found in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008. Projects with status updates since this report was filed are discussed below. The company may have other projects in various stages of planning or execution that may not be disclosed for security or legal reasons until considered appropriate by management.

“Atlas” Search Project

The “Atlas” project encompasses a minimum of five high-value targets within a search area covering more than 6,000 square miles. Based on work completed during past “Atlas” seasons, three sites within the “Atlas” search area, including HMS Victory, are the subject of Admiralty arrests filed by Odyssey.

Operations for the 2009 “Atlas” season commenced in February 2009 with the 251’ Odyssey Explorer conducting search and inspection operations. In addition to search and inspection technology used in the past, our teams have integrated new technologies into the ZEUS platform which are expected to enhance inspection capabilities. A JWM Productions camera crew is currently on board the Odyssey Explorer filming activities for an anticipated second season of “Treasure Quest” for Discovery Channel.

The Ocean Alert or other chartered vessels may be utilized for operations during the course of the year as deemed appropriate by management.

HMS Victory Project

We discovered and conducted a preliminary investigation of the shipwreck of Admiral Balchin’s HMS Victory (which sank in 1744) during our 2008 “Atlas” season. HMS Victory was the inspiration and direct predecessor to Nelson’s Victory and was the mightiest and most technically advanced vessel of her age.

Odyssey has been cooperating closely with the UK Ministry of Defense (the “MOD”) on the HMS Victory project, and all activities at the site, including the recovery of two bronze cannon, have been conducted in accordance with protocols agreed to by the MOD and Royal Navy officials.

The Victory discovery was announced publicly February 2, 2009 and since that date, various departments within the UK Government have been reviewing data from the site and Odyssey’s proposed agreement to the UK Government for the archaeological excavation of HMS Victory. The proposed agreement is similar to the Odyssey/UK Sussex Partnering Agreement. Research and discussion are ongoing.

Although the UK is not a signatory to the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) Convention for the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage (CPUCH) and therefore not bound by CPUCH, Odyssey’s proposed agreement is consistent with the archaeological principles of CPUCH.

North Carolina Project

Shipwreck exploration firm Intersal Inc. has received a renewal of its exploration permit from the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources for a site off the coast of North Carolina and additional surrounding areas, some of which correlate with Odyssey's "Firefly" shipwreck project. Odyssey has an agreement with Intersal, Inc. to pursue operations under this permit and to share in substantial research and data acquired by Intersal over the years relating to the target shipwreck and the work completed to date in the permit area.

The area covered by this permit and arrest is located near Odyssey's current "Firefly" project, which was acquired by Odyssey from BDJ Discovery Group in 2007 and includes one arrested site that has already produced a small number of gold and silver artifacts. The Intersal site and permit area may also be related to the high-value, Colonial-era merchant vessel believed to be located in the area. The agreements with BDJ and Intersal are similar but separate and the areas do not overlap.

Plans are being developed to resume work in both areas in 2009.

Claim of sunken treasure found?

2009-05-07T06:27:00.000-07:00

5/7/09: The Crew over at Odyssey Marine Exploration seem to be hot on the trail of recovering some valuable cargo(again!)...

Odyssey Marine Exploration says it is examining more than half-a-million coins from the shipwreck as part of a find that could net it around half a billion dollars. The bounty has sparked public interest in the controversial business of treasure hunting by Odyssey Marine Exploration.

"Black Swan is the code-name of a secret operation off the coast of Europe which may have discovered the biggest haul of shipwreck treasure ever found.

Odyssey won't reveal the identity of the ship, or even when it sank, to avoid giving clues to other treasure hunters. Odyssey will only say it went down in international waters.

In the crates are 17 tons of silver and gold coins and other valuables arriving in the U.S., destined for a secret location.

Mark Gordon, from Odyssey Marine Exploration, says an expert in 17th century coins estimated the value of the haul. "He looked at a representative sample of the coins and in amongst the group that he saw he was able to determine that there were values ranging from $400 to $4,000 for individual coins, and the mean value of the group that he looked at was about $1,000," says Gordon.

Those crates could hold about half a billion dollars. In the U.S., a big media splash about the "Black Swan" hoard has triggered a new fascination in pirate ships and treasure.

Odyssey estimates there are some three million shipwrecks worldwide. The company combs the seabed using a special underwater vessel: operating it costs $35,000 a day.

If treasure is found, the company determines if anyone may have a claim to it -- unlikely in the case of a pirate-ship -- then petitions a U.S. court to get ownership.

Odyssey is the only publicly traded treasure-hunting company in the U.S., but the business is unpredictable. It reported a net loss of $3.8 million in the first quarter of 2007.

Critics, such as the Institute of Field Archaeologists, accuse private companies like Odyssey of "ransacking" shipwrecks for profit. And Odyssey is in a legal wrangle with the Spanish government over the Black Swan treasure. Spain says it might be one of their galleons that went down in its territorial waters.

But Odyssey says it will press on with its work - and has even teamed up with the Walt Disney Corporation to cater to the public appetite for sunken treasure.

Great Lakes shipwreck locations

2009-05-05T15:15:00.000-07:00

5/5/09: I came across a map that shows the known locations of shipwrecks in the Great Lakes region of North America. Probably the most famous one is the Edmund Fitzgerald. An interesting visual, and perhaps a good starting place for anyone planing a Great Lakes wreck dive.

Click here to see the map.

Satellite tech helping wreck discoveries

2009-04-29T06:03:00.000-07:00

4/29/09: Another weapon in the treasure hunters armory...

Expert Says Satellite Images from Space Reveal Sunken Treasure Ships
Salem-News.com

It may be the final frontier, but satellites in space are allowing treasure hunters unexpected opportunities; how will the world deal with this?

(HOUSTON, Tx.) - Master Merchant Marine and salvage consultant, Captain Tom Williams pens tense tale of lost sunken treasure and asks the forbidden questions: how are all the lost and ancient shipwreck sites suddenly being found?

And should any international laws apply to deep water salvage?

Odyssey, a deep-sea exploration team based in Tampa Florida announced in May 2007 that they had found the shipwreck of a Spanish Galleon. The “Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes y las Animas” which sank near the Portuguese coast in 1804, has reportedly yielded 17 tons of salvaged silver from the Atlantic Ocean seafloor.

The British warship HMS Victory was reported found by the same Odyssey group in February 2009, after sinking with all hands in 1744. This lost shipwreck is expected to yield 4 tons of gold from 330 feet below the English Channel.

Greg Stemm, co-founder of the Odyssey Marine Exploration team announced there is a secret warehouse somewhere in Florida that contains an undisclosed amount of recovered lost treasure.

With the discovery of the Spanish Galleon in 2007, and the subsequent find of HMS Victory, a simple question has surfaced; asked by the author of the breakout novel Lost and Found.

“Lost and Found” is an exciting new novel by Tom Williams that has been receiving many incredible reviews and national acclaim, but has someone really used a geological survey satellite and found all the lost shipwrecks that still contain silver or gold?

Does the ultimate treasure map now exist? Are all the lost treasure fleets undiscovered for centuries now identified and located with specific GPS coordinates? Can these wreck sites be salvaged legally, or can a US Judge make a ruling on undersea artifacts as in the pending case of the Titanic.

Some in the Spanish government have called the Florida based treasure hunters “21st Century Pirates,” but no one is asking the pertinent questions: How are these lost ships being found? Moreover, how many more have already been found and scheduled for salvage and will these continuing undersea operations be deemed legal.

Can the recent find of the Spanish Galleon worth 500 million, and HMS Victory with four tons of gold onboard be linked to a new and highly secret technology? Have all the other lost treasure ships around the world already been found by an orbiting satellite? Could the price of precious metals plummet if suddenly every lost treasure ship undiscovered for centuries was available for instant salvage?

Could Captain Tom Williams’ novel Lost and Found be the fictitious thriller that has turned to fact? It certainly sounds like it.

Squabble over the Polar Mist salvage op

2009-04-21T19:01:00.000-07:00

4/21/09: Nothing like a bit of sunken bullion to get the juices flowing. looks like this one is headed to court...

BUENOS AIRES -(Dow Jones)- Salvage operations to recover over nine tons of gold and silver that went down in a shipwreck off the Argentine coast earlier this year have been suspended amid a confusing dispute between insurance underwriter Ascot Lloyd and the crew of the recovery ship.

A flotilla of salvage boats led by the Skandi Patagonia was ready to set sail for the wreck site on April 14 to begin the job of bringing up the bullion, but a dispute with union members over compensation held up the launch, according to local press reports.

Faced with high costs each day to maintain the idle fleet of rescue ships, Ascot Lloyd filed criminal charges against the crew of the Skandi Patagonia, leading them to be briefly "detained" aboard ship, according to local daily La Nacion.

When the detention order was lifted, the Skandi Patagonia crew decided that they'd had enough of the rescue operation, weighed anchor and returned to duty at the Total Austral offshore petroleum platforms, according to La Nacion.

Meanwhile, the owner of the precious cargo is facing severe cash flow problems and is pressing Ascot Lloyd to pay up on their insurance claim. But Ascot Lloyd continues to classify the cargo as "in transit," Cerro Vanguardia General Manager Jorge Palmes said recently.

The mysterious circumstances surrounding the sinking of the multi-million-dollar cargo have been fueling suspicions, and investigations are under way in both Argentina and Chile.

On Jan. 14, a fishing vessel, the Polar Mist, departed from Punta Quilla, Argentina, bound for Punta Arenas, Chile. The vessel was loaded with gold and silver bullion with a value of at least $16.4 million. The bulk of the cargo came from the Cerro Vanguardia mine in Argentina's Santa Cruz province, owned by South African mining giant AngloGold Ashanti (AU). In addition, the Polar Mist was carrying about two tons of bullion belonging to Minera Triton, a subsidiary of Canada's Pan American Silver Corp (PAA).

The vessel was battered by a storm in the Strait of Magellan, and its crew called for help and was airlifted by an Argentine coast guard helicopter.

A Chilean tug, the Beagle, came across the abandoned ship and towed it toward Chilean waters. The Beagle's crew claimed they were trying to help, but was then ordered by the Argentine coast guard to drag the storm-damaged vessel back to Argentine waters nearer the coast.

The Polar Mist then began to list, and on Jan. 19 it sunk about 22 nautical miles out to sea.

Titanic cabin key sells at auction

2009-04-19T14:04:00.000-07:00

4/19/09: Another piece of titanic history goes on the block...

London, April 19 (RIA Novosti) A key to a first class cabin on the legendary Titanic ocean liner, which sank nearly a century ago on its inaugural voyage, was sold for 60,000 British pounds ($88,000), the auction house Henry Aldridge & Son said.

Henry Aldridge & Son auctions items associated with the shipwreck twice a year in Wiltshire county in England. The latest auction held Saturday, included about 130 lots with Titanic memorabilia.

Other items included a collection of belongings of Millvina Dean, the last living survivor from the Titanic disaster.

The 97-year-old woman, who was just two months old when she was rescued from the sinking ship, is trying to raise money to pay her fees at a nursing home in Southampton.

The ship, carrying 2,200 people, sank in 1912 in the Atlantic Ocean during its maiden voyage between the British port of Southampton and New York, after it struck an iceberg. At least 1,496 people were killed in the world’s greatest maritime tragedy, and some 306 bodies were recovered.

The Port Nicholson mother lode?

2009-04-18T04:36:00.000-07:00

4/18/09: This could be something to keep an eye on if the hunter's hunch is correct...

Portlander Files Claim to Sunken Treasure

A shipwreck hunter in Portland, Maine has filed a claim to unearth what he says may be the world’s most valuable sunken treasure.

Greg Brooks and his partners at Sub Sea Research filed a claim to a World-War II wreck in U.S. District Court in Portland, and plan to start salvaging the platinum and diamond cargo off Cape Cod in a few weeks, according to the Portland Press Herald.

The Port Nicholson British merchant steamer was sunk by a torpedo off the coast of Cape Cod in 1942, and while it was thought to only carry automobile parts and supplies, Brooks claims his research has uncovered federal documents proving that the ship was secretly transporting industrial diamonds, platinum ingots and, possibly, gold.

War of 1812 flagship the Wolfe possibly located

2009-04-17T10:11:00.000-07:00

4/17/09: I came across this article today. An interesting read for all concerned with the war of 1812.

Divers hope to prove Lake Ontario shipwreck is flagship of War of 1812

Kingston - A Queen’s University Psychiatry professor who studies how disease affects quality of life will be doing research of a very different sort this summer, in the murky depths of Lake Ontario.

Along with other volunteer divers, Dianne Groll hopes to resolve once and for all whether the remains of a 200-year-old shipwreck off the coast of Kingston is a flagship from the War of 1812. One of the project’s organizers, Dr. Groll will join nautical historians from throughout Ontario in surveying remains of what may be the Wolfe, the infamous warship of Captain Yeo.

The preparation work will begin the first weekend in May, when marine archaeologists from Parks Canada's Underwater Archaeology Service will run a course for Preserve our Wrecks Kingston to certify divers that could then go on to help in the survey.

“It’s delicate work,” says Dr.Groll, a member of Preserve our Wrecks Kingston “but it will be very exciting to finally identify this ship -- especially if it turns out to be the flagship of the War of 1812, as we hope.”

Divers who complete the course in May will receive their Nautical Archaeology Society Level One certification. In early June, they’ll help other certified divers take measurements, drawings and photographs of the shipwreck.

The shipwreck is lying in about 50 feet of water in the mouth of Navy Bay. Organizers expect that about three weeks of people diving almost daily will be required to accurately survey the wreck.

Once the survey work is complete, marine archeologists will comb through archives at Queen’s and in Toronto and Ottawa to compare data and determine the identity of the ancient vessel. The group is looking for a variety of volunteers who would like to be part of the historical hunt.

“We need boats, and people to coordinate on-shore activities and take videos,” says Dr. Groll. “There are a number of opportunities to get involved.” And with the bicentennial anniversary of the War of 1812 quickly approaching, this identification could play a significant part of the celebrations.

Search for the Centaur

2009-04-06T16:38:00.000-07:00

4/6/09: A commitment to find the hospital ship Centaur. Another WWII wreck off the Australian coast. Read on...

A British shipwreck hunter says he wants to find answers for the loved ones of those killed when the World War II hospital ship the Centaur sank off the Queensland coast.

The Centaur was torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine off south-east Queensland in 1943, with the loss of 268 lives.

Martin Pash, 87, was on board the Centaur the night it went down. Of the 268 people who were killed, only 64 returned home, and Mr Pash is one of three survivors that are still alive.

"I was the last one out the quarters and I got sucked back into the ship's hull," he said.

"We tried to get the life boats away and couldn't get them away.

"I left and I said, 'grab something safe until the ship's gone under' and I left and went up to grab the rail on the side of the ship, and before I had a chance to do it, the suction took me down number one hatch.

"And with the lights on the red crosses illuminating the water, I found my way out from there."

Shipwreck expert David Mearns discovered HMAS Sydney off the Western Australian coast last year and has been given the task of finding the Centaur.

Mr Mearns flew to Australia to gather information to prepare for the search, and spent yesterday combing through the archives of the War Memorial in Canberra.

"[I'm looking for] anything to do with the sinking of Centaur, anything that gives me a clue about where she may have sunk," he said.

"There's lots of information in the archives about the history of Centaur and the people on board, and while all of that is very interesting, my absolute focus is on any obscure or direct piece of information which will help me assess where I believe it may have sunk."

'A lot of grief'

There have been a number of false findings over the years, but the families of those killed hope this new expedition will find the Centaur.

Richard Jones lost his uncle in the attack.

"For me personally, I really do feel it's an important event in Australian history, a very difficult thing to talk about now, even after all these years, and in the family of course at the time it caused a lot of grief," he said.

"Mind you, many other people had the same grief to deal with at the end of World War II, but it doesn't make it any easier."

Jan Thomas was a young girl when her father, who was a doctor on the ship, was killed.

She says claims that the Centaur had been found in 1995 led to further grief when the claims turned out to be incorrect.

"Families had been casting wreathes and scattering ashes over something totally unrelated," she said.

"So it will be a huge help in the healing process for those whose lives were affected to find out exactly where it is, to know that it can be adequately protected, and there can be no further false claims."

Solving questions

Mr Mearns has been given $4 million from the Federal and Queensland Governments to conduct the search.

He says a large part of the project is helping those left behind.

"You can't really get a stronger argument or a stronger incentive to try to find a shipwreck," he said.

"This is what I do, I'm a shipwreck hunter, but in an instance where a relation is requesting your help to give them that knowledge they haven't had, and you fill that void in their life or solve a question, I don't need much more than that, really."

Those like Jan Thomas who are still wondering where the Centaur lies on the ocean floor hope Mr Mearns can finally help close the door on a part of history they wish never occurred.

"In a sense, those of us who were children, our fathers went off to war and didn't come home," she said.

"So we spent our lives looking for them.

"And if we at least know where they ended up, it will in a sense, figuratively speaking, be bringing them home."

First US ship sunk in WWII found

2009-04-01T18:02:00.000-07:00

This released today, a little bit of history discovered off the Australian coast...

April 1, 2009 - 3:58am

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - The rusting wreck of the first American vessel sunk during World War II has been found off Australia's southeastern coast, ocean researchers said Thursday.

The MV City of Rayville, a freighter carrying a cargo of lead, wool and copper from Australia to New York, sank in the Bass Strait after striking a German mine on Nov. 8, 1940, a year before the United States entered the war.

One seaman drowned while trying to recover personal items from the sinking vessel but the 37 other crew survived.

The approximate location of the wreck _ about 8.5 miles from Cape Otway in the strait that separates mainland Australia from the island state of Tasmania _ had been known since 2002 but it was too deep to be precisely located.

Researchers at Deakin University found the vessel 230 feet underwater by using state-of-the-art sonar equipment during a research project to map the seabed off the state of Victoria.

"It was very exciting to see the City of Rayville for the first time," research leader Daniel Ierodiaconou said in a statement.

The merchant vessel, owned by the International Mercantile Marine Company in New York, was under charter to the United States Maritime Commission during its journey to Australia.

The freighter was found upright on its keel, with a slight list, and has become an artificial reef for marine life, researchers said.

Maritime archaeologist Cassandra Philippou of Heritage Victoria, which oversees historic sites in Victoria state, said that a hatch cover near the stern was missing, consistent with reports that covers were blown off by the explosion.

Heritage Victoria was not involved in the research but provided the vessel's approximate coordinates to the Deakin team and said the discovery will help develop a plan for maintaining the wreck site.

The Rayville was the second ship to be sunk by one of 100 German mines laid in Bass Strait. The British steamer SS Cambridge was destroyed nearby a day earlier.