HOT NEWS !

By Roger Highfield

A new DNA technique could provide a revolutionary insight into the lives of the Ancient Greeks - using jars that have lain on the seabed for millennia.

These amphoras were the cargo containers of the ancient world, used for shipping all kinds of things, from wine to olive oil.

Studying those left in shipwrecks could tell us much about the trade, agriculture and climate of historic societies - except that the contents wash away over the centuries, leaving archaeologists with glorified empty bottles.

Now a team from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the US and Lund University in Sweden has performed the first successful extraction of DNA from the remains of a 2,400-year-old shipwreck off the Greek island of Chios.

The wooden merchant ship sank in the fourth century BC, coming to rest 70 metres down.

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From The Age

Going, going, gone ...

Vin Maskell reports there are almost 200 sunken ships in the waters of Port Phillip Bay.

When the party hire boat the Maheno sank near the mouth of the Yarra River two weeks before Christmas, it joined a long list of vessels that have come to grief in the not-so-benign waters of Port Phillip Bay, not far from the beaches that Melburnians flock to over summer.

Heritage Victoria estimates there are 130 shipwrecks in the bay, with a further 50 at the narrow Port Phillip Heads between Point Lonsdale and Point Nepean.

In the bay itself, these include the 19th-century warship HMVS Cerberus, an 1890s wooden pleasure yacht, cargo boats and passenger ferries.

Five people died when the steel steamer the Kakariki collided with another steamer, the Caradale, off Williamstown at 11pm on January 29, 1937.

The Kakariki sank within minutes and later salvage operations were hampered by the vessel being stuck in four metres of mud.

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By Nikolai Lukashov

An international archaeological expedition to Lake Issyk Kul, high in the Kyrgyz mountains, proves the existence of an advanced civilisation 25 centuries ago, equal in development to the Hellenic civilisations of the northern coast of the Pontus Euxinus (Black Sea) and the Mediterranean coast of Egypt.

The expedition resulted in sensational finds, including the discovery of major settlements, presently buried underwater.

The data and artifacts obtained, which are currently under study, apply the finishing touches to the many years of exploration in the lake, made by seven previous expeditions.

The addition of a previously unknown culture to the treasury of history extends the idea of the patterns and regularities of human development.

Kyrgyz historians, led by Vladimir Ploskikh, vice president of the Kyrgyz Academy of Sciences, worked side by side with Russian colleagues, lead by historian Svetlana Lukashova and myself.

All the Russians involved were experienced skin-divers and members of the Russian Confederation of Underwater Sports.

We were responsible for the work done under water.

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By Hartmut Kaiser

In the final days of the third reich, some Nazi officers loaded gold, documents and counterfeit British currency (pounds) into army trucks in Berlin, Germany, and drove south toward the Alps.

Some nazi remnants -- a gold urn, personal seals, etc. -- have since been found in Bavarian and Austrian lakes such as Walchensee (Bavaria) and Altausee (Austria).

Yet most of the nazi's gold treasure is still missing. Many people believe that it was dumped into Lake Toplitz at the time of the downfall of the nazi empire.

The story of lake Toplitz has inspired many authors and filmmakers as well as treasure hunters who dived in the lake in search of the missing gold. The nazis had planned to destabilize the British economy by dropping counterfeit British pounds from airplanes over the country -- a plan they never carried out.

Some of this counterfeit currency has been found by diving expeditions in Lake Toplitz. Other lakes in Bavaria and Austria are supposed to contain also nazi gold treasures, yet nobody knows the details.

Nor does anybody know what happened to the Nazis who transported the gold and secret documents.

From China News

An 800-year-old Chinese merchant ship loaded with precious trading goods was moved to its purpose-built museum on Friday in Guangdong Province, five days after being raised from the sea.

The intricate salvage process, which involved constructing a special container around the 5,000-ton Nanhai (South China Sea) No. 1, finished with the delivery of the 30 meter wooden vessel to its "Crystal Palace" at the Marine Silk Road Museum in Yangjiang.

The glass pool featured a water temperature, pressure and other environmental conditions that were the same as where the ship had rested on the sea floor for centuries.

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By Joe Ryan


On Dec. 15, 1901, a four-masted ship heading for New York Harbor with $1 million in silk, porcelain and a rumored golden Buddha got lost in a blizzard and ran ashore in Ocean City, where it sank into the sand and left generations dreaming of sunken treasure.

The Sindia was on the last leg of a voyage from Kobe, Japan, when she beached at 17th Street shortly after midnight. Rumors that the crew was drunk quickly spread and were later debunked as the ship vanished under the shifting sands.

In the decades since, powerful tides have sometimes revealed Sindia's masts, tiller post, hull, or capstan. Each ghostly re-appearance has left beachgoers wondering.

Does the Sindia's hull hide the rumored statue of Buddha cast in gold and other priceless artifacts said to have been looted from temples in China during the chaotic aftermath of the Boxer Rebellion ?

A handful of attempts to excavate the ship have failed. The state dedicated its sandy grave as a historical site in 1969. And on Christmas Eve, 1970, the last surviving member of her crew, David Jackson, died in Philadelphia at the age of 90.

From Newswise

Resting in less than 10 feet of Caribbean seawater, the wreckage of Quedagh Merchant, the ship abandoned by the scandalous 17th century pirate Captain William Kidd as he raced to New York in an ill-fated attempt to clear his name, has escaped discovery -- until now.

An underwater archaeology team from Indiana University announced today (Dec. 13) the discovery of the remnants.

IU marine protection authority Charles Beeker said his team has been licensed to study the wreckage and to convert the site into an underwater preserve, where it will be accessible to the public.

Beeker, director of Academic Diving and Underwater Science Programs in IU Bloomington's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, said it is remarkable that the wreck has remained undiscovered all these years given its location, just 70 feet off the coast of Catalina Island in the Dominican Republic, and because it has been sought actively by treasure hunters.

"I've been on literally thousands of shipwrecks in my career," Beeker said.

"This is one of the first sites I've been on where I haven't seen any looting. We've got a shipwreck in crystal clear, pristine water that's amazingly untouched.

We want to keep it that way, so we made the announcement now to ensure the site's protection from looters."

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From Todays Zaman

The Ertuğrul, which departed from İstanbul on July 14, 1889, upon the decree of Abdülhamid II, continued its travel by visiting the ports along the route.

The vessel was welcomed by the Muslims living in the visited places. Large groups head to the frigate to see what is inside.

Eleven months after departure the frigate arrives in Japan.

The date is June 7, 1890, when the vessel arrives in Yokohama port in Japan. This was also a sign of diplomatic relations between Japan and the Ottoman state.

In response to a visit of friendship paid by the uncle of the Japanese emperor to İstanbul in 1887, Sultan Abdülhamid II ordered a reciprocal visit.

The Ertuğrul, constructed at the İstanbul shipyards, was able to move both by sail and by steam engine. The primary means of movement was, however, the sail. The engine was supplemental.

It was a wooden vessel with a weight of 2,400 tons and was 25 years old. One year prior to its final journey, its wooden parts were repaired, but its machinery and boilers remained untouched. The delegation leader was Col. Osman Bey and the vessel’s commander was Lt. Col. Ali Bey.

The vessel had a crew of 607, including 56 military officers. That year young lieutenants who graduated from the naval college were assigned to duty on the vessel.

The frigate was charged with carrying valuable gifts from Abdülhamid II for the Japanese emperor while young graduates would also have the opportunity to further their experience on the open seas.

At the same time, the power and strength of the Ottoman Empire would be displayed. It would also be stressed that Muslims living in different parts of the world were not alone.

The caliph and sultan’s determination and will to protect Muslims throughout the world would be demonstrated.

During the journey of the frigate, Col. Osman was promoted to the rank of admiral.