[Archport] Salvagers want to raise Victory

[Alexandre Monteiro <no.arame@gmail.com>]

BBC, Wednesday, 4 November 2009


Salvagers want to raise Victory

An American salvage company hopes it will be allowed to raise the
wreck of the HMS Victory, which lies off Alderney in the English
Channel.

Greg Stemm, Odyssey Marine Exploration chief executive officer, said
there is currently a consultation with the UK government and other
stakeholders. He said: "Hopefully we'll come up with a way forward
that includes the excavation of that site."

Two cannon were raised by the company which confirmed the ship's
identity. More than 1,000 sailors drowned when the British warship,
the predecessor to Admiral Lord Nelson's Victory, sank in a storm in
1744. The wreck, which could contain more than $1bn (£605m) of gold,
was discovered at the bottom of the English Channel by Odyssey in May.

Mr Stemm said: "We've got a proposal that would have the entire site
excavated, the entire collection conserved, educational materials
developed and Odyssey would take the entire risk of putting that
project together and funding that project."

But further salvage work is likely to only take place if the site can
be shown to be under risk because the UK government has endorsed an
annex of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of Underwater
Heritage which bans salvage, unless a site is under threat.

Mr Stemm said his company has surveyed a "large chunk" of the English
Channel and are disappointed to have found shipwrecks in a "much, much
worse condition than we ever anticipated".

He said his company normally operates at depths of 1,000 to 1,500
metres and often worked in depths of just 100 to 150 metres in the
channel, but "nevertheless we were still surprised by the really bad
shape that most of the shipwrecks are in" which he said is "a result
of trawling".

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said it will be discussing the issue
with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. A spokesperson
added: "We will be encouraging all those with an interest in UK naval
heritage and underwater archaeology to contribute.

"There are a number of options open to us, ranging from preservation
in situ to a full archaeological excavation, though it is fair to say
that the latter would be very costly."