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Plan to raise Asgard II from watery grave
- On 24/11/2008
- In Maritime News
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By John Mooney
A plan to raise Asgard II, which is lying at the bottom of the sea off the French coast, will be presented to the cabinet before Christmas.
Willie O’Dea, the defence minister, hopes to commission a salvage company to raise the government’s training vessel so that it can be restored.Officials are in negotiations with a specialist firm which submitted a “favourable” tender to raise the ship, which was designed in the 1980s by Jack Tyrrell from Wicklow.
If a deal is agreed, the company could raise the vessel from the seabed as early as next spring, weather and tidal conditions permitting. The operation could be paid for using money from the ship’s insurance policy.
Asgard II was covered by Allianz, an international firm, for €3.8m. The Department of Defence is confident a full insurance payout would cover the entire cost of the salvage operation and a refit of the vessel if it is successfully refloated.
A survey of the sunken ship by a Remotely Operated Vehicle in September showed that Asgard II is largely intact and could be saved, although it lies under 80 metres of water 31 km off the French coast in the Bay of Biscay. -
Pirates who's who
- On 23/11/2008
- In Miscellaneous
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By Robin RowlandPirate bands have existed since human beings first began ocean voyages. And it seems, despite their murder, robbery and slave trading, the public's romantic view of pirates existed long before Hollywood movies.
The pirates of the Caribbean were a money-maker for an author using the penname Captain Charles Johnson when his book, A General History of Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates, was published in London in 1724.The account of famous pirates such as Henry Morgan and William Kidd became an 18th century bestseller. And 200 years before that, both Christian and Muslim chroniclers told the stories of pirates from both faiths, sometimes allies, sometimes enemies, who raided across the Mediterranean in the 16th century.
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Pirates ahoy !
- On 23/11/2008
- In Miscellaneous
- 0 comments
By Chris Lloyd
There’s been much talk of pirates this week after a Saudi-owned tanker was hijacked with Britons aboard. Chris Lloyd looks at the history and romance surrounding swashbucklers and buccaneers.
Ahoy, me hearties ! Shiver me timbers ! There be booty on the Indian Ocean. Arrrr, there be supertankers sailin’ ’boot laden to the gunnels with treasure – thick, black oozy treasure. Liquid gold, avast ye! I ain’t never – no, nay, ne’er – seen owt to match that Sirius Starrrr…
Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. The Sirius Star is one of the biggest ships on the seven seas: 332 metres (1,090ft) long, carrying two million barrels of crude oil – a quarter of Saudi Arabia’s daily output – worth £70m.
And now she’s been captured by pirates.
These are Somalian pirates using motherships and global positioning satellites as opposed to swashbuckling pirates who sailed in galleons, glugged rum and said “arrrr” a lot. -
Third time unlucky for tragic sailor who survived Titanic
- On 23/11/2008
- In People or Company of Interest
- 0 comments
From Mail Online
A sailor who survived two massive shipwrecks including the Titanic, finally died when a third vessel sunk, it emerged today.
Tragic Archie Jewell's bad luck has been uncovered in two letters up for auction at Sothebys.
Archibald 'Archie' Jewell, who was born in 1888, was a lookout on the Titanic on the night she hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic and went down, taking 1,523 lives with her, in April 1912.
Remarkably, he was also serving on Britannic, which was being used as a hospital ship, when it was hit by a mine that killed 30 in 1916.
In an evocative letter to one of his sisters in Cornwall, just 11 days after the Titanic disaster, 23-year-old Mr Jewell describes the sinking of the liner and the immediate aftermath. -
Odyssey Marine Exploration announces third quarter 2008 results
- On 23/11/2008
- In People or Company of Interest
- 1 comments
From Investors
Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (OMEX), the world leader 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 third quarter 2008.
For the third quarter of 2008, Odyssey reported revenue of $2.2 million, compared to $1.3 million in the third quarter 2007.The Company also reported a net loss of $6.5 million, compared to a net loss of $5.4 million in the third quarter 2007. The net loss per share for the third quarter 2008 was $.13, compared to a net loss of $.11 per share in the third quarter 2007...
...An agreement was negotiated during third quarter 2008 with Arqueonautas Worldwide for the exclusive worldwide marketing rights to the collectible quality coins from their SAGBPo Jose shipwreck project.
These coins have not been available for sale previously and we are marketing them through our authorized distributors.
This project is expected to generate revenue through sales commissions beginning in the fourth quarter 2008 and has allowed us to expand our distribution network with new product to prepare for future Odyssey shipwreck products and stories....
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Diver finds priceless ancient jewellery
- On 22/11/2008
- In Treasure Hunting / Recoveries
- 0 comments
By Fiona Magennis
A local diver has found a priceless piece of ancient silver jewelry whilst taking part in a search for a missing person.
Pat Treanor a member of the Boyne Fishermans Rescue and Recovery Service (BFRRS) found what is believed to be a Viking artefact dating back up to 2,000 years during a search of the River Lee.
It is currently being examined by the National Museum of Ireland but is believed to be at least 1,500 years old.
The piece, which is circular with a bulbous end and is thought to be either a bracelet or brooch, was found on the river bed sitting on top of stones in ten feet of water.
He originally thought the silver trinket, which was discoloured and blackened, was an ordinary piece of women's jewellery.
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Shipwreck to escape sibling's shadow
- On 22/11/2008
- In Famous Wrecks
- 0 comments
From BBC NewsForgotten by many and unheard of by most. Yet the sister-ship of the Titanic is starting to escape from the shadow of the iconic shipwreck.
HMHS Britannic was completed at Belfast's Harland and Wolff shipyard two years after Titanic was lost in 1912. But she in turn went to the bottom, the victim of enemy action in the First World War.
BBC News correspondent Mike McKimm joined a Greek scientific expedition and dived to the Britannic to bring back dramatic footage of one of the world's biggest wrecks.
And the expedition also set out to try to discover what sank the vessel. Was it a torpedo or a mine ? -
Searching for Capt. Kidd's Treasure
- On 21/11/2008
- In Treasure Hunting / Recoveries
- 0 comments
By Jack Fichter
Did pirate Captain Kidd bury treasure somewhere near Lake Lily in Cape May Point ?
I was told that story from the time I was child, a story passed down by my family members who lived in Cape May Point starting in 1905.
The Web site: New Jersey History Mysteries tells the story of Kidd’s final months before being hanged following a spree of attacking ships for their valuables. In 1697, Kidd discovered he had been deemed a pirate and was wanted by the British government.
He had abandoned a ship that he had captured and looted, the Quedagh Merchant, then bought a small sloop and set off for Boston where he hoped he could clear his name.
I was watching a program about Kidd on the National Geographic Channel documenting a group that believes they have discovered the remains of the Quedagh Merchant off a tiny island in the Dominican Republic.The documentary noted he removed the treasure from the ship and then burned the vessel. He must have been carrying that treasure on his way to Boston as he sailed past New Jersey, a place he knew well.
Kidd is believed to have made stops along our state’s coast on that journey. He sent landing parties to New York with bribe money for public officials and hid some of his treasure on Gardiner’s Island, off Long Island, before sailing on to Boston, where he was arrested, sent back to England and hanged.
Kidd claimed he had hidden 40,000 British pounds somewhere, but others said it was more like 400,000. Only 10,000 pounds was recovered from the Gardiner’s Island location.