Shipwreck Site News

As the Clock Ticks on the Titan Sub, an Expert Explains What Safety Features a Submersible Should Have

The oxygen supply of the missing Titan submersible is expected to run out today around 10am GMT, or 8pm AEST.A frantic search continues for the Titan and its five occupants, with sonar buoys having recorded “banging” noises in the search area on Tuesday and Wednesday.With the vessel’s fate yet to be determined, the general public is asking questions about the safety of such touristic endeavours.The contextThe context in which the Titan has disappeared is disturbing. Reports have come out detailing court documents from a 2018 case that show OceanGate…

Shipwreck Recovery to Commence in August

Florida-based Swordfish Partners and Deep Blue Exploration have contracted Blue Water Ventures International to recover potentially valuable artifacts and coins from a shipwreck site off the coast of North Carolina the parties believe to be the 1838 sinking of the steam paddle wheeler, Pulaski. Endurance discovered the site of the loss and the shipwreck is currently subject of a Swordfish Partners admiralty claim in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Tampa. The wreck has been arrested and Swordfish Partners has been named Substitute Custodian with exclusive rights to make the recovery. The parties expect on site salvage operations to begin mid-August of this year.

Navy Surveys North Sea for Links to the Toughness of its Past

A multinational group of Sailors and scientists from a variety commands, organizations and militaries searched for the wreckage of Revolutionary War ship Bonhomme Richard, Sept. 2-9. Underwater archaeologists from the Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC), Navy divers from Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit(MDSU) 2, Sailors from Naval Oceanography Mine Warfare Center (NOMWC), Sailors from the French Mine Clearance Dive Unit (MCDU) and members from Global Foundation for Ocean Exploration (GFOE) embarked upon Military Sealift Command rescue and salvage ship USNS Grasp (T-ARS 51) to survey a late 18th or early 19th century-shipwreck off the coast of England in the North Sea.

Families March to China Shipwreck Site as Survivor Hopes Fade

Dozens of people broke through a police cordon on Wednesday as they marched towards the site of a sunken cruise ship in the Yangtze River to demand news of missing relatives. Rescuers searched for more than 400 missing people, many of them elderly, but hopes were fading of finding more survivors from the worst shipping disaster in modern Chinese history. Only 14 people, including the ship's captain, have been found alive since the ship capsized in a tornado on Monday night with 456 people on board. Just 29 bodies have been recovered. Frustrated by the scarcity of information coming from local authorities, about 80 family members hired a bus to take them from Nanjing to Jianli county in Hubei, an eight-hour journey. They started walking towards the rescue site late on Wednesday night.

Update: SS Central America Salvage

Deep-ocean exploration company Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. has completed the current phase of the recovery operations on the SS Central America shipwreck project. The recovery ship, Odyssey Explorer, has returned to Charleston, South Carolina, for necessary repairs and installation of new equipment, which is expected to take approximately two to three weeks. In addition to more than 15,500 gold and silver coins, 45 gold bars and hundreds of other gold nuggets, gold dust, jewelry and artifacts recovered from the shipwreck site over the past five months…

Canaveral Shipwreck Search Permit Granted to Seafarer's Quest

Research and recovery of historic shipwrecks experts Seafarer Exploration Corporation says that Seafarer's Quest, LLC has successfully been granted a three year research permit for the shipwreck site south of Cape Canaveral from the Florida Bureau of Archaeology Research. "We are so excited about this site!" exclaimed Kyle Kennedy, CEO of Seafarer. "The complexities of this particular permit dictated a much longer time horizon, but hopefully good things come to those who wait. The long awaited issuance of this permit allows Seafarer to begin the investigation, research and archaeological excavation of this very exciting historical site. There have already been several artifacts discovered, some solid silver and a pistol with a visible date of 1709 and the name of the maker," he added.

Treasure Hauled from SS Central America Shipwreck

Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. has placed operational reports and inventories of items recovered from the SS Central America shipwreck site on the company's website at shipwreck.net/ssca.php. These items were initially filed under seal in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, Norfolk Division. Chief U.S. District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith has allowed the reports to be unsealed and made available to the public. Odyssey has been working since April 2014 under contract to Ira Owen Kane, the receiver for Recovery Limited Partnership (RLP).

$1.3m in Gold Recovered from 1857 Shipwreck

A deep-ocean exploration company in Florida says it has recovered nearly 1,000 ounces of gold, worth $1.3 million at current gold prices, on a reconnaissance dive to an historic Atlantic Ocean shipwreck. The dive confirmed that the ship had not been disturbed since 1991 when another company stopped recovery work, Tampa-based Odyssey Marine Exploration, announced on Monday. The ship's sinking in 1857 with 21 tons of gold aboard in a hurricane off the coast of South Carolina sparked a U.S. banking panic. Recovered gold included five gold ingots and two $20 Double Eagle coins, an 1857 coin minted in San Francisco and an 1850 coin minted in Philadelphia. The gold ingots were stamped with the manufacturer's "assay-mark" and weigh from 96.5 to 313.5 troy ounces. U.S.

Court Approves Gold Recovery from Historic Shipwreck

Deep-ocean exploration company Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc., has been awarded the exclusive contract to conduct an archaeological excavation and recover the remaining valuable cargo from the SS Central America shipwreck located approximately 160 miles off the coast of South Carolina. The ship, which was immortalized in the best-selling book, "Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea," sank in 1857 with one of the largest documented cargoes of gold ever lost at sea. Odyssey was selected for the project by Ira Owen Kane…

Shipwreck Salvors, Seafarer, Get New Work Permit

New permit is an important step in the excavation process by Seafarer Exploration Corp. of an historic shipwreck site located off Lantana Beach Florida. The permit was issued pursuant to Part IV of Chapter 373, Florida Statutes and Title 62, Florida Administrative Code from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and represents an important step in Seafarer's quest to excavate this exciting shipwreck site. Seafarer received a permit from the State of Florida for a shipwreck site located off of Lantana Beach, Florida in 2012.

Salvors to Show Treasure in NY Times Square

At Discovery Times Square, New York, Odyssey Marine Exploration will show silver recovered from the 'SS Gairsoppa' shipwreck. The company's multi-media traveling exhibit, 'Shipwreck' opens at Discovery Times Square in New York City on May 24, 2013 for the first public unveilling of silver bullion recovered from the World War II-era SS Gairsoppa shipwreck. Silver which lay approximately three miles deep, will be on display in the first public showing of some of the 1,218 silver bars (approximately 48 tons) of silver recovered to date from the Gairsoppa…

Underwater Vandals Damage Japanese Midget Submarine

Vandals have damaged the wreck of a Japanese midget submarine in Sydney Harbour and made off with protected relics. The submarine, known as the M24, is a key piece of Australian World War II history and was one of three midget submarines that entered Sydney Harbour on May 31, 1942. It's believed divers entered the protected zone around the shipwreck and broke off and removed propeller blades and relics, reports The Sydney Morning Herald. One of the three submarines was blown up by its occupants after getting tangled in the boom net across the harbour. The M24 followed and fired torpedoes at the cruiser USS Chicago but instead hit the HMAS Kuttabul, killing 21 naval personnel. It then disappeared until 2006, when scuba divers discovered its wreck off a Sydney beach.

Treasure Hunters, Seafarer Corp., Get Dig & Identify OK

Seafarer Exploration Corporation complete phase 1 on Lantana Beach, FL shipwreck site, move on to dig & identify phase 2. The dig and identify permit allows Seafarer to dig and determine various artifacts to help identify the ship. The final phase of excavation will be Phase III, full salvage. Seafarer received a permit from the State of Florida for a shipwreck site located off of Lantana Beach, Florida in 2012. The site has recently been surveyed using a Geometrics 882 Cesium…

Sunken Treasure Hunters Latest on 'SS Gairsoppa' Project

Odyssey Marine Exploration inform the 'Seabed Worker', will cease salvage operations to make a scheduled port call in Cork, Ireland. After taking on fuel, supplies and changing personnel, the Seabed Worker will immediately return to the site to continue recovery operations under an extension of the charter agreement. No materials recovered from the shipwreck site will be landed during this port call in Ireland. Pursuant to Odyssey's agreement with the UK Government, the company…

Historic Shipwreck Discovered in Northern GOM

During a recent Gulf of Mexico expedition, NOAA, BOEM and partners discovered an historic wooden-hulled vessel which is believed to have sunk as long as 200 years ago. Scientists on board the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer used underwater robots with lights and high definition cameras to view remnants of the ship laden with anchors, navigational instruments, glass bottles, ceramic plates, cannons, and boxes of muskets. Equipped with telepresence technology, Okeanos Explorer reached audiences around the world who participated in the expedition through live streaming Internet video. As members of the public ashore watched live video from the ocean bottom…