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From All Hungary News


Archaeologists searching the Danube for important shipwrecks have found what they believe may be the vessel which carried Queen Mary of Hungary (Mary of Habsburg) to Vienna after the disastrous Battle of Mohács against the Ottoman Turks in 1526.

According to stop.hu, the 15-meter-long wreck, which is buried in gravel and mud in the Danube "bend" north of Budapest, may contain gold and jewelry, and the team which located it is currently looking for sponsors to excavate the site. 

Attila J. Tóth, associate of the National Office of Cultural Heritage, said that a team of 30 divers started scouring the Danube Bend for historical relics buried under the mud a few months ago. 

Initial funding of $10,000 (€6,600) was provided by the American Hungaria Nostra Foundation, which allowed for the purchase of boats and a sonar device. 

To excavate the wreck, the team estimates it needs a further Ft 5 million (€21,000).

While sponsors could benefit from an association with the enterprise, they should not expect any treasure, as any relics found would belong to the Hungarian state.

From Seeking Alpha


Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (OMEX) is engaged in the archaeologically-sensitive exploration and recovery of deep water shipwrecks that contain treasure throughout the world.  

Odyssey’s May 2007 recovery of the estimated $500M Black Swan treasure and subsequent legal dispute with Spain has made headlines worldwide.

Odyssey utilizes innovative methods and state-of-the-art sonar technology to conduct extensive deep ocean search and recovery operations on high value shipwreck targets.

Sea exploration has dramatically changed due to state-of-the-art technologies that enable the search, discovery and recovery of shipwrecks that were previously beyond reach.

Odyssey is transforming activities long associated with "pirates and treasure hunters", into a serious and legitimate commercial industry founded on strong business practices, a commitment to the environment and high archaeological standards.

There are well over 1,000 high-value shipwreck targets ($50 million - $2+ billion).


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By Maria Cristina Valsecchi


An ancient Greek ship recently raised off the coast of southern Sicily, Italy, is the biggest and best maintained vessel of its kind ever found, archaeologists say. 

At a length of nearly 70 feet (21 meters) and a width of 21 feet (6.5 meters), the 2,500-year-old craft is the largest recovered ship built in a manner first depicted in Homer's Iliad, which is believed to date back several centuries earlier.

The ship's outer shell was built first, and the inner framework was added later. The wooden planks of the hull were sewn together with ropes, with pitch and resin used as sealant to keep out water.

Carlo Beltrame, professor of marine archaeology at the Università Ca' Foscari in Venice, said the boat, found near the town of Gela, is among the most important finds in the Mediterranean Sea. 

"Greek sewn boats have been found in Italy, France, Spain, and Turkey. Gela's wreck is the most recent and the best preserved," Beltrame said.


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By Jenny Oldland


Not much is known about the sailing history of the two-masted ketch the “Sir Wilfred Lawson” (1878-1908); however, a tip-off from a local spear fisherman led members of a State Heritage maritime expedition to her final resting place off Port Moorowie in 1994. 

What divers Cosmos Coroneos (State Heritage Branch Marine Archaeologist), Kelvin Taylor (Ardrossan) and Stuart Moody (Maitland) found when they explored the Gilbert Reef were mostly iron remains and, remarkably, the ship’s bell, which was well preserved considering it had been under water for 86 years !

Last week, just over 100 years since the ketch went down, the bell was returned to the community after being conserved by the Department for Environment and Heritage.

It will remain on permanent display in the Edithburgh Museum, along with a pictorial record depicting what little is known about the vessel.

By Alyssa Wells


Great Lakes shipwrecks are overlooked treasures.

Most people don’t expect to have any scuba diving experience in Lake Michigan, let alone an exciting one.

While diving is usually synonymous with warm, turquoise water and dazzling marine life, scuba divers in the Great Lakes region guard a well-preserved secret.

If you’re diving and you want to see fish you have to go to the tropics,” says Cris Kohl, author of eleven books on the Great Lakes.

But if you want to see the best preserved shipwrecks in the world you have to dive here, because you sure won’t see them in saltwater.

Our lakes boast shipwrecks galore, from smaller tugboats to schooners resting less than one hundred feet below the surface, a treat for adventurous divers willing to tolerate the cold.

Although the water temperature is a deterrent for many potential and seasoned divers, it prevents the deterioration of the sunken boats, products of the Great Lakes’ extensive maritime history.

From Tampa Bay


Tampa treasure hunting company Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc. said slower sales of gold and other coins from shipwrecks it has discovered reduced its revenue for the second quarter. 

Revenue fell to $1.1-million from $1.7-million in the same period of 2007, and Odyssey reported a quarterly loss of $5.4-million in the latest quarter compared with a $6.3-million loss in the same three-month period last year. 

Odyssey said it continues to work on several potential shipwreck sites and is helping to develop an 11-episode primetime TV series for Discovery Channel scheduled to air in early 2009.

By Dale Jarvis


There are numerous locations across Newfoundland and Labrador that boast piratical phantoms. The community of Boxey on the south coast of Newfoundland, almost midway between English Harbour West and Coombs Cove, was one such locale.
 
In the 19th Century, Boxey was well known for an opening or “spy hole” in a local rock formation. The hole was used by local sailors to navigate safely amid treacherous rocks in the bay.

According to local legend, a man named Jacob Penney and his companion, Simon Bungay, ran aground close to the spy hole. It was said spirits had tricked them into running their boat onto the rocks.

The two men had been on a treasure hunt to haunted Deadman’s Bight, just up the coast from Boxey, when the boat ran aground.

The legend goes the men were able to pull the boat off the rocks and continue on the hunt for the buried treasure.

The twosome arrived at what was reported to be the location of the treasure, but their misadventure on the rocks had cost them valuable time. 

They arrived just in time to catch a glimpse of the fabulous treasure before a rock door slammed shut before it. The treasure was never recovered.

By Meg Jones


All around him, as he fought to stay afloat in a turbulent Lake Michigan, fellow passengers struggled to stay alive. His mother and sister were among them. 

The Stockbridge, Wis., man, then 19, couldn’t see in the dark as the paddlewheel steamer he had boarded a short time earlier for the trip from Chicago to Milwaukee broke apart and slipped beneath the surface.

Lightning flashed, illuminating the horrible scene. But he never saw his mother again, and the next time he saw his 24-year-old sister Elizabeth was when he claimed her body.

Last week, Sharon Cook thought of her relatives’ last moments as she swam down to the wreck of the Lady Elgin, which now lies in several pieces a few miles off the shore of this northern Chicago suburb.

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