HOT NEWS !

By Colin Barras


An estimated 1 million ancient shipwrecks litter the seafloor around the globe, proving a tempting target for looters and a nightmare for archaeologists and governments to protect.

But that could be set to change with the advent of a submarine alarm that can identify the telltale sounds of approaching treasure hunters in the hubbub of the oceans.

Recent technological advances have been a boon for underwater research – improvements in GPS navigation, sonar and diving gear mean ancient shipwrecks are more accessible than ever.

But archaeologists worry that the same advances will also benefit looters seeking to make a quick profit.

Tuncay Akal of the TÜBİTAK - Marmara Research Center in Kocaeli, Turkey, is a member of an international research team designing an early warning system that can identify plunderers by their acoustic signature and alert officials of their presence.


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From The Herald


Divers are to launch a mission to find two ships which have lain undisturbed at the bottom of Plymouth Sound for centuries.

University of Plymouth staff and students are to hunt for the remains of the Paulsgrove, which sank in 1637, and the Dutton, which was lost in 1796.

The Dutton's sinking became part of maritime folklore when a passer-by helped save nearly 500 people on board in a dramatic rescue which became the subject of a couple of celebrated paintings.

The English East Indiamen Paulsgrove sunk with its cargo of spices and silks from Indonesia.

The team of seven students and four staff will spend a week from Monday exploring an area off Plymouth Hoe and to the east of Drake's Island in an attempt to locate the remains of two wrecks.

Project leader Martin Read, who lectures in the university's School of Earth, Ocean and Environmental Sciences, said: “Previous work by students from the university using acoustic survey equipment has located several potential targets which might be parts of shipwrecks.

The Dutton was carrying troops to the West Indies and was seeking shelter from a storm in the Cattewater when she hit Mount Batten reef and crashed into Plymouth Hoe.


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From The Press and Journal

A hi-tech underwater camera designed by an Aberdeenshire firm is being used to examine an ancient Roman shipwreck off Sicily.

Scientists from the marine research group RPM Nautical Foundation have had a major breakthrough thanks to the specialist equipment from Tritech International, based at Westhill, near Aberdeen.

The company, formed nearly 20 years ago, specialises in acoustic sensors and other underwater equipment.

Experts believe the Roman vessel was headed for Italy from north Africa in the 3rd century AD when she foundered in the Egadi Islands off the north-west coast of Sicily.

The wreck is thought to have been a merchant ship carrying foods such as olive oil and grain, with building materials.

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From Ansa

An ancient Greek trading ship that had lain on the seabed off the coast of Gela in southern Sicily for 2,500 years was brought to the surface for the first time.

The ancient Greek vessel is 21 metres long and 6.5 metres wide, making it by far the biggest of its kind ever discovered.

Four Greek vessels found off the coasts of Israel, Cyprus and France are at most 15 metres long.

The one in Gela is also of particular value for scholars who will be able to delve into Greek naval construction techniques thanks to the amazing find of still-intact hemp ropes used to 'sew' together the pine planks in its hull - a technique described in Homer's Iliad.

''Gela's ancient ship is the patrimony not only of Sicily but of all humanity,'' said Sicily's regional councillor for culture Antonello Antinoro, who watched Monday's operation.

The campaign to bring the vessel to the surface began shortly after two scuba divers located it by chance in 1988.

From Sail-World


The Sea Stallion Project comprises a unique reproduction of a actual Viking Ship - a long boat - combined with a reproduction of the actual voyages of the original Viking Ship called the Sea Stallion.

She is manned by some 120 volunteers together with staff of the owning museum, the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo. She left Dublin on 29th June, and is expected to arrive Roskilde on the 9th August 

Here Lars Normann speaks to two young hands who are currently sailing on the Sea Stallion as she makes her historic way from Dublin to Roskilde, and find that they agree at least about one thing: that spending six weeks on board the Sea Stallion is meaningful: 

Their backgrounds for sailing with the Sea Stallion are very different. Sidsel Romme Nygaard is 21 years old and starts studying political science after the voyage.

She has sailed in Viking ships all her life because her parents have been involved in the guild for one of the Viking Ship Museum's reconstructions, Roar Ege.

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From Powerboat World


Heritage Minister Peter Garrett said the National Trust of Victoria would use $500,000 in Federal funding as a first step towards stabilising the HMVS Cerberus shipwreck. 

The Minister announced the funding during a visit to the wreck, which sits as a breakwater a few hundred metres off the beach at Melbourne’s Half Moon Bay, Black Rock. 

“Purpose-built in 1868 for the Victorian Colonial Navy, the HMVS Cerberus is a unique part of our naval heritage. It was included in the National Heritage List in December 2005,” Mr Garrett said. 

“Named after the three-headed mythological guard dog, the Cerberus was Victoria’s and then Australia’s most powerful warship. Her heavy iron structure was the prototype for 19th century steam-powered battleships. 

“After protecting Victoria from potential attacks for over 50 years, in 1924 she was declared surplus by the Navy and sold to a salvage company. The hulk was purchased for 150 pounds by the Sandringham Council, and scuttled at Half Moon Bay.

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By Chung Ah-young


A total of 515 pieces of Goryeo green porcelain noted for its shapes, patterns, glazes and firing techniques were found in Taean County in South Chungcheong Province.

According to the National Maritime Museum, the porcelain could have been possibly produced in the 12th century to the 13th century at kilns in Buan or Gangjin in Jeolla Province during the Goryeo Kingdom (918-1392), given its making techniques and patterns.

The museum said that it recovered the relics from the sea 300 meters off the west coast of Mado. The shipwreck carrying the relics has not been found yet as it could be possibly buried, according to the museum. 

The massive excavation began last year after a fisherman discovered a blue-green saucer when he pulled up a baby octopus trap from the sea, leading to the excavation of tens of thousands of lost ``treasures'' of the Goryeo Kingdom (918-1392). 

From the marine excavation, the museum recovered a total of 22,572 pieces of Goryeo celadon pieces and a shipwreck carrying the porcelain.

The museum said that the recent excavation began after a fisherman reported finding 25 celadon pieces in his net three times last year. 

Royal archives of the Goryeo Kingdom had recorded many shipwrecks in the waters near Taean County because of the strong currents.

By Jim Avila, Beth Tribolet and Emily Yacus

The gray waters of Upper Lake Michigan are deep, cold and treacherous.

And lately, they've been contentious.

A three-way court battle is brewing among an explorer who says he's found a 329-year-old shipwreck, the state of Michigan and the U.S. government.

Just as precarious as the weather that supposedly sank the Griffon in 1679, the legal battle seems to portend a perfect storm.

"This whole area has a lot of wrecks," said Capt. Carl Carlson.

"That's why they call it death's door.

There's been lives taken in the water everywhere."

The Griffon shipwreck is a legend where Wisconsin meets Michigan.

It's a 300-year-old mystery that Carlson and his diving partner, Steve Libert, are determined to solve.

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