Thanks .
King George I crest on cannon from HMS Victory [Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc.]
Posted on 02/23/2012 7:16:17 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Don't be fooled by the flashy dollars figures, Mitchell-Cook argues -- we can't know how much wealth is at the bottom of the sea, but it's not enough to make it worth your time.
There's no documentation for many shipwrecks and disappearances, Mitchell-Cook says. And there's no way to know what happened to the wreck. Some ships drop intact in deep water, others run aground, or break up in a storm and scatter their remains for miles. "Also, currents, bottom conditions, temperature of water, and other factors can work to preserve or destroy a vessel," she says. Don't forget fishing, construction, and salvage, which can also disrupt a wreck site.
Delgado, who has excavated wrecks for archaeology institutions throughout his career, says the litany of unknowns is part of the explanation for why wreck hunting is so expensive. "The street value of shipwrecks is minimal. Generally it's a losing proposition, except in a few cases, because it costs more to find them, work them, and deal with what you find. An average mission in deep water can run into the millions, and that's just to find it. For every dollar you spend looking and finding, you'll spend about $10 excavating and treating what you've found [to offset] chemical changes that happen underwater."
And then there's the question of whether you can keep what you find. Governments, insurance companies, and anyone with a chance at a legal claim will set their sights on recovered treasure. Fisher says court cases figure into the projected costs of doing business as a wreck hunter.
(Excerpt) Read more at popularmechanics.com ...
King George I crest on cannon from HMS Victory [Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc.]
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| GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach | |
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Thanks Theoria. |
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Sounds to me like someone wants to discourage competition from amateurs. Maybe the technology is getting affordable enough for weekenders to give it a shot.
Is this a vanity????
he’s the guy that found $500 million off the coast of Portugal and had to give it back to Spain, eating all the costs
sorry, they abandoned it... as they didn’t spend the time looking for it... they aren’t entitled to any of it (still have no idea how it could be awarded to Spain... total bs)
I can’t stand the way the cover on every PM hypes some really cool story, and then u page through, finally discovering the whole story is ONE PAGE.
It’s a trick, every time.
I don’t know, but Spain just recovered 17 tons of gold that Americans uncovered off our shores.
That cannon is remarkably preserved.
Seems that international law has different rules for military ships than for civillian ones. I would think that a treasure hunter would know that before spending so much money. I think they did, took a gamble, and lost, so I can’t feel too bad for them.
I read just this week that Spain reclaimed 17 tons of gold from American shores.
I read it on the internet, it must be true!
There`s a lot of treasure that got sunk in Las Vegas.
And isn't it ironic that if you try to recover it you are the one who will be swimming with the fishes...
lol
shipwreck law is bizarre. salvage law, military wrecks, war graves, spoils of war, internationally recognized territorial waters, claimed territorial waters, the difference between a wreck and its cargo, the unesco 2001 convention on underwater cultural heritage, countries that claim title to unworked wrecks after a certain number of years (spain now claims title if a ship sinks and isn't salvaged in three years). that's just a start.
mel fisher fought florida for years over the atocha. the u.s. supreme court finally gave him title, but on the condition he would donate 20% of the salvaged gold, emeralds, and other treasure to the state of florida, which didn't lift a muscle or spend a penny (except to seize and defend fisher's lawsuits) over a 1622 wreck found in 1985.
the united nations estimates over 3 million ocean shipwrecks.
Yup. That’s the story I read.
Thanks for the link.
I got a pretty cool pistol from the Spanish Civil Guard in the original box. I paid $149 with two mags.
It shoots very well.
***I read just this week that Spain reclaimed 17 tons of gold from American shores.***
Wonder what ever happened to all that Aztec gold they sent to the USSR for safekeeping where it disappeared during the Spanish Civil War.
No telling.
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![King George I crest on cannon from HMS Victory [Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc.]](http://www.popularmechanics.com/cm/popularmechanics/images/Sz/sunken-treasure-02-0212-mdn.jpg)