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By Julia Thompson

Remains of a 238-year-old shipwrecked Spanish galleon named “Our Lady of the Good Council and San Leopoldo” have been discovered on the coast near the Chilean town of Curepto, located in Chile's Region VII. Oriflama S.A., the private archaeological excavation firm that discovered the galleon, is now grappling with Chilean authorities for permission to continue their excavation efforts and receive part of the estimated US$30 million in booty.

The Chilean National Monuments Council insists the ship and its treasures are state property under terms spelled out in Chile’s national monuments law N. 17.2888. Even so, the Council has agreed to grant the company 25 percent of the loot.

“Because the ship was embedded in the sand rather than deep under the ocean 'Our Lady of the Good Council and San Leopoldo' is property of the private business that found it,” the Republic's Comptroller's Office told the Santiago Times.

Most archaeologists expected to find the remains of the ship deep on the ocean floor. But fragments of the 41-meter x 11-meter ship have been discovered embedded in the sand under fairly shallow waters near where the Huenchullami River flows into the ocean.

The once ornate vessel was built by the French in the mid 1700s and, loaded with 56 canons, was used by their military until the ship fell into Spanish hands. The Spaniards revamped the ship into a merchant vessel and set it sailing to New Spain.

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From This Is Cornwall


Falmouth diver Peter Devlin and a friend from Truro have been given less than a fortnight to face trial in Spain, accused of plundering treasure from a sunken wreck.

The friend, father-of-four Malcolm Cubin, was suddenly told to prepare a defense to face trial in 10 days after the matter had hung over himself and Mr Devlin for more than six years.

The case was delayed, but the two men now face a nervous wait to find out if they will spend up to six years in a Spanish prison.

Self-employed commercial diver Mr Cubin, 37, of Truro, said: "The first I heard about it was from the TV news so I was stunned and shocked.

"Then the panic set in and I called our investors who confirmed it. I contacted our lawyers in Spain who got a stay of execution.

It's hard to know what to do with it always in the back of your mind. You wonder what's going to happen to your family if you get carted off to jail. We did nothing wrong and no-one has convinced us otherwise."

A team including Mr Cubin was licensed by the Spanish government to recover 220 tonnes of tin from Dutch cargo vessel the Friesland, which sank off the port of Corrubedo, Galicia, in 1877, and hand over 23% of the expected £650,000 value.

From Yahoo! News


Divers trained in archeology discovered a marble bust of an aging Caesar in the Rhone River that France's Culture Ministry said Tuesday could be the oldest known.

The life-sized bust showing the Roman ruler with wrinkles and hollows in his face is tentatively dated to 46 B.C. Divers uncovered the Caesar bust and a collection of other finds in the Rhone near the town of Arles — founded by Caesar.

Among other items in the treasure trove of ancient objects is a 5.9 foot marble statue of Neptune, dated to the first decade of the third century after Christ.

Two smaller statues, both in bronze and measuring 27.5 inches each also were found, one of them, a satyr with his hands tied behind his back, "doubtless" originated in Hellenic Greece, the ministry said.

From Coin Link


A recent close examination of coins recovered a year ago from the 1846 Gulf of Mexico shipwreck of the SS New York has revealed some of the finest known Southern branch mint gold coins and a nearly complete set of Bust half dollars.

The New York was a side-wheel steamer that foundered during a hurricane about 60 miles off the coast of Cameron, Louisiana in 1846.

Four New Iberia, Louisiana area residents found the 365-ton wooden hull ship in about 60 feet of water two years ago. The four, who call their recovery operation, “Gentlemen of Fortune,” are Gary and Renée Hebert, Avery Munson and Craig DeRouen.

“We brought up the ship’s bell in the summer of 2006, staked a claim and obtained a federal court judgment granting us title to the site, then brought up several hundred coins from the underwater mud last year.

We recently sent them to Numismatic Conservation Services and Numismatic Guaranty Corporation for certification,” said DeRouen.

 

From NOAA


The natural resources of the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary off the North Carolina coast are in good condition overall, but the wreck of the Civil War ironclad encompassed by the site is at risk from human activity and natural deterioration, according to a new NOAA report.

The first-of-its-kind assessment of the sanctuary’s archaeological and living marine resources indicates that corrosion, strong currents, hurricanes, high water temperatures and highly salty water threaten the long-term stability of the Monitor wreck.

Discarded fishing gear, which can become entangled on the wreck, and other forms of marine debris also pose a danger to the historic site.

Although not a major problem currently, looting of the wreck, vessel anchoring, bottom trawling and other activities prohibited in sanctuary waters are of concern due to significant diving, boating and fishing activity in the area.

By Mark Willacy

This week marks the 65th anniversary of one of Australia's darkest moments in World War II.

Two hundred and sixty eight people died when the hospital ship Centaur was sunk by a Japanese submarine off the coast of Stradbroke Island near Brisbane, in what was denounced as a despicable war crime.

Now victims' families say the time has come to put the Centaur's ghost to rest and find the wreckage of the vessel.

And the shipwreck hunter who discovered HMAS Sydney says he would love the challenge.

"I think it's like the HMAS Sydney, a loss that has touched people and maybe scarred people for generations," David Mearns said.

In the early hours of May 1943, the Centaur was steaming en route to Port Moresby to pick up casualties.
 

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By Henry A. Stephens

Staffers at Mel Fisher's Treasure Museum say they are excited about a Fellsmere treasure diver's "spectacular" find — two pieces of gem-studded gold jewelry.

Capt. Greg Bounds, master of the salvage ship MV Gold Hound and a Fisher subcontractor, found the items on Sunday at the 1715 fleet shipwreck site known as "Corrigans," said museum office manager Nichole Abt, granddaughter of the late Mel Fisher.

She said Bounds and crew members Chaz Francoviglia, Emigeio Gil, and Doug Kaye got ready and got out to sea as quick as they could on Sunday.

It's a good sign, she said, to find gold this early in the summer treasure hunting season.

"There are only 100 workable days at sea, and the season has just started," Abt said. The second piece may be an earring, she added, but said further research is needed.

After Bounds drops off the pieces, Abt said, they will be on display at the museum, 1322 U.S. 1, Sebastian, for the remainder of the summer.

Corrigans, near the Wabasso Beach area, is the location of one of 11 Spanish galleons that sank during a hurricane in July 1715.

By Simon Worrall


Simon Worrall sets sail for a southern island to meet a man fighting the looters of China's underwater treasure.

It isn't easy getting to Hailing Island. As ever in China, there is the language barrier.

I have been told to head for Yanjiang, a provincial city about three hours south-west of Guangzhou, or Canton, as it used to be. But the receptionist at my hotel hears the name of the city as Zhangjiang. Finally, after much poring over maps, we get the right place...

I am not here for a holiday, though. I have come to meet a man called Zhang Wei, head of China's marine archaeology unit. An energetic man of 52 with a winning smile and a mop of black hair, he drives an Audi and dresses in smart western clothes.

Dangling from a silver chain under his pink cotton shirt is a chunk of jade worth more than £1,000. His cellphone rings incessantly.

"We estimate that there are 2,000 ancient shipwrecks in the territorial waters of China," he says, as we sit drinking "Kungfu" tea from thimble-sized cups at the marine archaeology unit's base, which doubles as a hotel.

In a classroom below us, a group of students, including two from Kenya, pore over barometric tables. Through the window, we can see brightly painted fishing boats bobbing on the waves.

"We have identified more than a hundred sites off the coast of Guangdong and Fujian alone."
 

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