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Half of artifacts from Confederate gunship returned to river
- On 02/01/2016
- In Conservation / Preservation
- 0 comments
By Russ Bynum - Online AthensLeather boots, the hilts of swords — even a stray earring — were among the nearly 30,000 artifacts recovered this fall from the wreckage of the sunken ironclad Confederate gunship CSS Georgia.
More than half of the haul retrieved during the $14 million government project, however, was of a much more mundane nature: nuts, bolts, washers, bent iron rails and other material that did not shed any new light on the lives of sailors serving aboard the vessel.
Altogether, 16,697 artifacts weighing a total of 135 tons were returned to a watery grave at the bottom of the Savannah River, said Jim Jobling, project manager for the Conservation Research Laboratory at Texas A&M University, which is tasked with cataloging, cleaning and preserving artifacts from the Civil War shipwreck.
“Anything I considered to be unique, I would say, ‘I want this, I want this,’” Jobling said. “I picked through everything. No unique stuff went back in the river.”
The CSS Georgia was scuttled by its own crew to prevent Gen. William T. Sherman from capturing the massive gunship when his Union troops took Savannah in December 1864. Remains from the Confederate ironclad were salvaged during the summer and fall as part of a $703 million deepening of the Savannah harbor for cargo ships.
Based on sonar images of the murky riverbed, researchers knew they would fine big chunks of the ship’s armor, several cannons and large pieces of its engine.
What they hadn’t expected were the loads of small artifacts their cranes scooped up: Small buttons, hilts of knives and swords, an intact glass bottle, leather boots and an earring among them.
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800-year-old shipwreck found off Salento coast
- On 29/12/2015
- In Underwater Archeology
- 0 comments
From The Local
The sunken ship, made almost entirely of wood and measuring 18 metres by 4.5 metres, has lain for years untouched near the coastline of Salento, in the southern tip of the Puglia region, La Stampa reported.The wreck was found in the Porto Cesareo Marine Protected Area, where human activity is restricted in order to conserve the area's natural resources.
Pasquale De Braco, a fisherman and adviser to the protected area, notified local authorities of its presence, and divers were sent to investigate.
Because of the boat’s proximity to the medieval fishing village of Porto Cesareo, it could “explain significant aspects of the coastline in medieval times and contribute to the historical reconstruction of the area,” said Cristiano Alfonso, an underwater archaeologist from Salento University’s Department of Cultural Heritage, who carried out the initial assessment.
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Experts will decide provenance of ship’s artefacts
- On 29/12/2015
- In Illegal Recoveries
- 0 comments
By Annette Chrysostomou - Cyprus Mail
Authorities will decide what to do with the artefacts confiscated from a cargo ship on December 23 once experts from Lebanon have examined them, Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides said on Monday.The 57 crates with the finds were seized by police after they were tipped off about illegal treasure hunting by the offshore supply ship Odyssey Explorer. It is believed that the ship recovered them from a shipwreck in waters east of the island.
According to Alecos Michaelides, the transport ministry’s permanent secretary, the artefacts found on board the ship date to the 18th century.
Speaking after the cabinet meeting at the presidential residence in Troodos, Kasoulides explained that temporarily confiscating the boat was the correct procedure regardless of whether the artefacts were found in Cyprus’ or Lebanon’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a fact that is still not clear.
He said Cyprus had the obligation to investigate a ship with such a cargo, before granting it permission to depart.
“Whether in one EEZ or the other, the process of the temporary seizure of the ship and its contents will be the same. The Lebanese will come to air their views, we will hear from foreign experts as to where such cargo comes from and what its destination was,” he said.
Asked whether the ship may be handed over to the Lebanese authorities, Kasoulides replied “these are issues that we will have to see because they are preceded by a series of other tests. Depending on the findings, we will act according to the recommendation of the attorney-general.”
Antiquities department director Marina Solomidou-Ieronymidou supplied more details on the objects from the shipwreck.
“The artefacts have been recorded. Specifically 588 antiquities have been recorded that were found in 57 plastic crates while some objects were in a small fridge,” she told state radio on Monday.
“We are talking about a large number of historic artefacts. They are not specific to Cyprus. There are porcelain items, wooden items, some organic items, some spores and metal spoons,” she said.
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The fight over billions in sunken treasure
- On 27/12/2015
- In Treasure Hunting / Recoveries
- 0 comments
By Jim Wyss - News Observer
When Colombia announced early this month that it had discovered the wreckage of the San José galleon, brimming with colonial-era bullion and studded with bronze cannons, President Juan Manuel Santos hailed it as an “enormous” find for “all of humanity.”The 300-year-old shipwreck had been identified, he said, thanks to the work of world-class scientists, Colombia’s navy, and a mysterious, bearded researcher who Santos said “looks like Hemingway” and who gave him a previously unknown map.
But a U.S.-based salvage outfit, called Sea Search Armada, has a more prosaic explanation for the discovery: It claims it found the San José more than 30 years ago and provided the coordinates to the government in 1982.
In 2007, after a lengthy legal battle, Colombia’s Supreme Court reaffirmed the rights of SSA, based in Bellevue, Wash., to half of the riches on the ship not considered national patrimony.
The government insists it found the San José independently and at a previously uncharted site. But as far as SSA is concerned, the “rediscovery” is a backdoor attempt to deny them their share.
Danilo Devis Pereira, the company’s longtime lawyer in Colombia, said the administration’s Dec. 5 announcement defies logic. “Either there are two San José galleons or they found the same one a second time,” he said from his office in the coastal city of Barranquilla.
“If it’s true that they found the shipwreck in another area then I’ll rip my arm off.”
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Odyssey Explorer searched by Cypriot authorities
- On 25/12/2015
- In Illegal Recoveries
- 0 comments
From The Pipeline
“Odyssey Marine Exploration has been conducting a deep -ocean archaeological project in the Eastern Mediterranean under contract. The project has been conducted legally and Odyssey has not conducted any operations in Cypriot waters.Any statements to the contrary are false. The shipwreck on which the company has been conducting an archaeological operation appears to be a cargo vessel dating to the early to mid-17th century (1600-1650) with a primary cargo of agricultural goods, porcelain, glazed pottery and other trade cargo.
The site is not identifiable by name nor country of origin. The project design anticipates full publication of the results of the operation and exhibit of the recovered artifacts.
We understand the actions taken by the local authorities were based on a false report. Odyssey is fully cooperating and the company is confident the authorities will quickly confirm that Odyssey was neither working in Cypriot waters nor recovering ancient artefacts.
On this project, Odyssey is subject to a non-disclosure agreement under the contract and cannot provide further details.”
Cypriot Police spokesperson Andreas Angelides tell the Cyprus Mail ancient artefacts seized from the Odyssey Marine Exploration vessel Odyssey Explorer are not unique to Cyprus. However Mr Angelides confirmed the origin of the objects was still under investigation as was whether they were on board Odyssey Explorer legally.
“We continue investigations. If the artefacts are not Cypriot and if it is proven they were not found within Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the Republic is obliged to protect antiquities under a number of treaties, and procedures will be followed depending on the findings,”
Mr Angelides added “The items have been transferred to a storage facility at the customs office where they will be guarded until investigations are completed.”
Confirming that lawyers for parties with an interest in the case were monitoring the investigation Mr Angelides concluded.
“What we need to stress is that the matter is being carefully handled.” Mr Angelides comments suggest that the material seized does not include the distinctive Cypriot ceramics of the kind that could have been aboard the bark Napreid when she sank in 1872.
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Hi-tech hunt for Scotland’s shipwrecks reaps rewards
- On 23/12/2015
- In Miscellaneous
- 0 comments
By Alison Campsie - Scotsman
Scotland’s often treacherous coastline is littered with 1,800 known wrecks stretching from the Shetland Islands to the Solway Firth.The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) has charted and mapped nearly 18,000 maritime losses in Scottish from the 17th century to the present day.
Now, maritime explorers such as Patrick Crawford, 32, of Utility ROV Services in Glenrothes, Fife, say telecommunications industry technology is being used for shipwreck exploration to great effect. Devices such as fibre optic ropes, acoustic cameras and underwater robots that can travel thousands of miles are transforming deep sea finds.
Patrick has worked on several deep sea wrecks with his parents – veteran shipwreck salvagers Moya and Alexander Crawford. They include passenger liner the SS Persia, which was torpedoed in the First World War and searched by the family near Crete in 2004. A haul of rubies, diamonds and Veuve Clicquot Champagne was made.
Patrick said: “Things have changed massively over the years and the amount of information that can be retrieved by the subsea guys is now phenomenal. “A lot of the kit is now being taken from the telecoms industry, such as fibreoptics which are allowing us to get to depths which we could never have achieved be before.”
Patrick has been able to gather information from as deep as 3,300m, using visual and acoustic cameras operated remotely from ships positioned above the potential salvage site.
He said: “When you get down to a certain level you get the dust kicking up from the sea bed and the visibility goes and you can’t see anything. “You would have to wait till that clears, but now with the acoustic cameras you can keep going.
They see the same way that a bat sees. It allows us to work in zero visibility. There are obviously air diving limits which mean you can only go so far.”
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Global leaders have their sights on shipwrecks
- On 20/12/2015
- In Miscellaneous
- 0 comments
By Peter B. Campbell - Gulf News
Archaeology has long been exploited as a political tool. Hitler used artefacts and symbols to manufacture a narrative of Aryan racial superiority.Daesh (the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) proves its zealotry by destroying evidence of ancient history. Underwater archaeology — the world of shipwrecks and sunken cities — has mostly avoided these kinds of machinations, though. Since no one lives beneath the sea, leaders haven’t found many opportunities for political gains from archaeological sites there. That is, until now.
In the past few years, politicians in Canada, Russia and China have realised that they can use shipwrecks on the sea floor to project their sovereignty into new maritime territories. And this politicised abuse of science is putting the world on a path toward conflict.
For decades, global powers have been engaged in a race to exploit lucrative marine resources, from oil to fisheries to control of strategic waterways. But they have faced a challenge: How can a country claim new territory despite the restrictions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea ?
It turns out that “historical ties” to resource-rich regions can conveniently help to contravene international law. Last year, Canada announced the discovery of H.M.S. Erebus, Sir John Franklin’s flagship, which disappeared during a Northwest Passage expedition in 1845.
Stephen Harper, then the prime minister, personally announced the discovery. His government and its allies provided significant funding for the research. But Harper isn’t just a history buff; his interests are practical.
Global warming has made the Northwest Passage more accessible to shipping, which could be an economic windfall for Canada if the government is able to demonstrate sovereignty and charge other countries a transit fee.
“Franklin’s ships are an important part of Canadian history given that his expeditions, which took place nearly 200 years ago, laid the foundations of Canada’s Arctic sovereignty,” Harper said.
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Japan's underwater graveyard
- On 19/12/2015
- In Wreck Diving
- 0 comments
By Tom Wyke - Daily Mail
Covered in coral and left to rest on the Pacific ocean floor, these are the stunning remains of Japan's arsenal of military vehicles which were targeted in one of America's most important bombing operations during World War II.From tanks to submarines, this military equipment was once part of a key Japanese naval base in Chuuk Lagoon, one of the federated states of Micronesia.
American Fleet Task Force 58 targeted the naval base on 17 February 1944 during a vital two day mission known as Operation Hailstone.
The success of the daring raid played a vital part in allowing Allied forces to gain the advantage in the Pacific campaign. 191,000 tons of war shipping now lies one hundred and eighty feet down at the bottom of the ocean, untouched since one of Japan's worst World War II defeats.
Much of Japan's war machines are now covered in a stunning layer of multi-coloured coral and the home to an array of fish and wildlife. The remains are part of over 40 different World War II wreckage sites at the bottom of the lagoon.
American scuba instructor Brandi Mueller, 32, was able to photograph the incredible detail of the remaining underwater wrecks at one of the best diving locations in the world, Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia.
She spent a week diving up to five times a day to capture these incredible shots, revealing the stunning natural beauty left at the site. It is estimated that over 400 aircrafts and 50 Japanese naval ships were destroyed in the deadly operation.
Over 2,000 Japanese troops lost their lives in the deadly 36 hour US aerial assault.