Skills That A Treasure Hunter Needs

If you've ever dreamed of being more than an armchair treasure hunter, you should prepare yourself as you would for any other job - except of course one that is a lot more fun.

Even if you don't have the funds to launch any expeditions yourself, by giving yourself these skills you will have a chance to hire on as a worker (or even a volunteer) for someone else's expedition.

What skills am I talking about?

Well, scuba diving, for a start. Underwater archeology is a growing field, and experienced scuba divers will have an edge over newbies.

But there are other kinds of diving that you should learn. Commercial diving is the key. (And lucrative, even if you dont' do it as a treasure hunter/ archeologist.)

http://www.commercialdivingacademy.com/

Commercial Diving Academy (CDA) is the only fully-accredited diver training program with IMCA-recognized training, on-campus housing and a full meal plan. CDA offers the most comprehensive and rigorous (20 weeks) program of all the accredited commercial diver training schools. All courses are taught in English.

CDA’s graduates may earn certifications from the Association of Commercial Diving Educators, Association of Diving Contractors International, Diver Certification Board of Canada, National Center for Construction Education and Research, American Petroleum Institute, American Welding Society, Hazwoper Environmental Training, National Board of Diving and Hyperbaric Medical Technicians, National Academy of Scuba Educators, and National Registry Emergency Medical Technician.

http://www.diversinstitute.edu/

Commercial diving is a competitive industry. Only the best divers perform to the highest standards, while never compromising safety. We train the best of the best.

After determining that the growing demand for commercial divers, construction technicians, and support personnel could be met with standardized training, Divers Institute of Technology in Seattle, Washington was founded in 1968. From the start, DIT has had one goal: to ensure that all entry level divers hold the essential, core skills necessary to compete successfully in the commercial diving industry, whether in inland, offshore, or international waters. DIT offers candidates the training that will help ensure a career, not just a job. And because we are Internationally Certified by the DCBC, graduates can work globally.

All our surface-supplied dive training is conducted in open water, giving students real world experience that can’t be duplicated in pools, tanks or quarries. Our faculty and curriculum are respected throughout the industry, and it shows: 92% of our graduates are working in the field. Our program trains divers to excel in all aspects of both offshore and inland diving. Students perform deep dives to 165 feet, and conduct both in-water and surface decompression. The curriculum includes underwater welding, NDT, HazMat, hydraulic tools, and ROVs. DIT remains the only dive school to dive the legendary copper and brass Mark V hat.

Instructors at DIT have made thousands of worldwide, commercial and military dives, and not one has ever made a one-way trip. Come train with us.

Are you up to the challenge?

Kingston lawyer highlights the difficulties of treasure salvors

Just found this blog (at least I assume it's a blog, it's hard to tell. Lousy website) today.

http://kingstonattorney.ca/california-art-attorney-maritime-shipwreck-lawyer-and-international-antiquities-attorney-analyzes-ownership-of-shipwrecks-stolen-art-and-antiquities/
I take the liberty of sharing most of the author's post on the subject, which he made today. [And, since I'm dealing with a lawyer, let me point out that I am sharing this post under fair use, and no ownership of copyright is implied, and no intent to infringe copyright is intended. I share this extremelly interesting post for information purposes only!

Recently, a number of prized shipwrecks have been found, one as recently as February 2009 when a U.S. salvage company, Odyssey Marine Exploration found a prized British warship believed to be the HMS Victory, lost in 1744, which just may hold four tons of gold. The HMS Victory discovery may solve one of the most intriguing naval mysteries in history. Why did this ship with one of the most famous admirals of his time, disappear with a crew of 1,100 men with one of the largest shipments of gold and silver, including four tons of gold coins, and why has it eluded treasure hunters for so long?

Believed sunk near the Channel Islands by a fierce storm that separated the Victory from other ships that broke through a French blockade at Lisbon and were returning home, the Victory (a later version which would be commanded by Admiral Nelson) had the sons of some of Britain’s most influential families on board when it sunk with perhaps the largest collection of bronze cannon as well.

In a less important find of another English shipwreck, Odyssey negotiated a deal whereby it received 80 percent of the first $50 million salvaged, and then a sliding scale up to $500 million, after which the profits were split 50-50. Since that time, however, the British government adopted a set of UNESCO guidelines that will complicate any hope of a similar arrangement.

Two years earlier, the same company, Odyssey, located the mystery ship, the Black Swan believed to be a Spanish galleon, the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes y las Animas, that sank off the coast of Portugal, with seventeen tons of gold and silver coins.

The Spanish government has sued Odyssey in a Florida federal court on the basis that it never abandoned the shipwreck. One could say, they simply lost it for a few hundred years. The British government is believed to be negotiating with Odyssey about a collaboration to salvage the warship.

Maritime Shipwreck Treasure Law

What’s important in sunken treasure cases is where the treasure is found, whether the ship was owned by a government or a private entity, and whether there has been any dishonest conduct by the treasure hunters.

Most countries and their maritime lawyers claim anything to be within 12 nautical miles from their coast as their territorial waters. Additionally, if the ship was owned by the state or government, Law of the Sea Conventions come into play, which again allow the state or foreign country to determine what compensation the treasure hunter is entitled to. Finally, if the treasure hunter or salvage company has been guilty of any fraud or dishonest conduct, they can be deprived of any or all of any payment due them. Entering a foreign state’s territorial waters to look for a sunken ship counts as such misconduct.

International Maritime Law and The Law of the Sea

Under international maritime law and the law of the sea, if an owner abandons a vessel, it can be claimed by the finder. When a vessel has not been abandoned, it can still be salvaged by the finder and is usually compensated by the sovereign state claiming ownership. The Abandoned Shipwreck Act of 1987 encourages cooperation between sovereign governments and states and private entities.

The rule of “finders, keepers” applies only where the previous owner of a ship is found to have abandoned its property. Under various state laws, treaties and conventions, however, the positions taken by most governments, including the U.S., is that the state only abandons its sovereignty over, and title to, sunken U.S. warships by affirmative act. Mere passage of time or lack of positive assertions of right are insufficient to establish such abandonment. Thus, France’s claim with respect to the Griffin (or Griffon) that it never abandoned its interests in the ship.

Sorting out these competing claims can take awhile. In 2001, the Great Lakes Exploration LLC found a 17th Century ship, the Griffin, in northern Lake Michigan, near Wisconsin. One might think that Michigan or Wisconsin would have good claim to the ship. But just in January 2009, France filed papers with the court hearing the case that claims the ship expedition was undertaken on behalf of the French Crown and was not a private enterprise.

The Richest Shipwreck Ever Found

And then, just when you thought the scale of these discoveries could not be topped, they have been, at least monetarily, with the discovery of a British merchant ship, sunk by a Nazi submarine, that was transporting just goods from a European port, to the U.S. with repayment to the U.S. Treasury for the Lend-Lease Program that gave support to the Allied war effort. And what was this ship, code named the Blue Baron carrying? Just the world’s richest shipwreck cargo ever. The ship is thought to have been carrying a $3.7 billion cargo of gold, platinum and diamonds.

Believed to have been found about 40 miles off the coast of Guyana by Sub Sea Research, a U.S.-based marine research and recovery firm, the shipwreck will be the richest find ever. It was reportedly carrying at least ten tons of gold bullion, 70 tons of platinum, one and a half tons of industrial diamonds and 16 million carats of gem quality diamonds.

So far, no counter claims have been filed in the federal admiralty court case relating to the find, but it is likely that a number of countries may make claims to possessions on board that originated in those countries, including Russia which, like Britain, shipped large quantities of precious goods to the U.S. in payment for the war effort by the U.S. The question for historians who may have some influence in this case, is whether the Soviet Union paid subsequently for the Lend-Lease war effort after the ship was sunk.

Stolen Art and Antiquities Law

The law with respect to stolen art as opposed to lost shipwrecks is quite different, but no less complicated. Some countries view the movement of stolen works of art as the smuggling out of its country of a “national treasure,” even if it was previously, privately owned. Other countries view the contents of tombs and other relics to be the property of the state and their taking as “theft.” Another view of situations in which a work of art is previously owned by one person and then appears in the collection of another, is viewed as a further variation of theft. In this last variation, most legal systems provide protection to the bona fide purchaser, unless the property is stolen.

Unfortunately, the laundering of stolen works of art is facilitated by the lack of consistency of state laws and international law, statutes of limitations, the bona fide purchaser defense and the burden of proof on the person claiming that the art work was stolen.

Under a common law rule in Anglo-American law, a person cannot give what he or she does not have. Thus, a thief cannot convey good title to a stolen work of art, even where there have been several subsequent purchases by bona fide and unsuspecting persons acting in good faith. However, the vast majority of western countries with civil law systems accord protection to the purchaser in good faith of stolen art. While there are international treaties and conventions which are gaining supporters, for the most part, it has been said that international law on the illegal sale of art works and cultural treasures is not retroactive.

Visit our website at http://www.sebastiangibsonlaw.com and call us if you have an issue involving stolen art or any art issue, maritime shipwreck sunken treasure, or with regard to international or cultural antiquity treasures.

The FBI now maintains a National Stolen Art File (NSAF) which is a computerized index of stolen art and cultural property reported to the FBI by law enforcement agencies throughout the United States and the world. The primary goal of the NSAF is to serve as a tool to assist investigators in art and cultural artifact theft cases and to function as an analytical database providing law enforcement officials with information concerning art theft.

It has been reported that the trade in illegal art and antiquities in the U.S. is exceeded only by the trade of guns and drugs. It is believed that most of the stolen art in the world (over 100,000 objects since the 1980s) comes to London or to the U.S. with much of it bought secretly by persons for their private collections, for a fraction of their market value.

If you need legal assistance in connection with any type of art, treasure or antiquity, look to our California art, antiquity, maritime and international law firm for representation in the U.S. and throughout the world.

Organization: Federation of Metal Detector & Archaeological Clubs

The sport of metal detecting has a national organization in place to preserve and protect the rights of "detectorists" as they are called.

Their website is www.fmdac.com.

Their mailing address is:

FMDAC
Dave Perry, National Secretary
603 West State St
Princeton, IN
47670
812-385-5676

Here's their info from their website:

Welcome to the

FMDAC


The Federation of Metal Detector and Archaeological Clubs Inc. (FMDAC) was organized in 1984 as a legislative and educational organization.

FMDAC Mission
FMDAC was incorporated, as a non-profit, non-commercial, non-partisan organization.

FMDAC is dedicated to the preservation, promotion, and protection for the hobby of recreational metal detecting and prospecting.

FMDAC Purpose:
To unite, promote and encourage the establishment of metal detecting clubs.

To preserve the sport / hobby of recreational metal detecting and prospecting.

To make available to FMDAC clubs and Independent members information pertaining to the hobby and to keep members informed as to active legislation

FMDAC Goal is to:
Educate and inform the public as to the merits of recreational metal detecting.

FMDAC Clubs and Chapters
FMDAC strongly supports metal detecting clubs in every state through the establishment of seven FMDAC Chapters. Each FMDAC Chapter is assigned seven to eight states within a specific region. The primary objective of each chapter is to provide club support, recognition, education, and develop FMDAC Club membership.

FMDAC Independent Membership
FMDAC has recently initiated the Independent Membership program. The Independent Membership program has been a success for individuals who do not live near a metal detector club or who just wish to become an FMDAC member. The FMDAC Independent Membership program is not intended to by-pass any local metal detecting club, only to promote the hobby for all.

FMDAC Code of Ethics
The Federation promotes the proper use of a metal detector. We ask that everyone read / abide by our Code of Ethics, and act in a respectful manner at all times.

FMDAC encourages all who are involved in this hobby to become a supporter by either joining a FMDAC Club or become a FMDAC Independent Member.

Not all states have organizations that belong to the FMDAC. Check out their website for a list of clubs, if you're interested in joining.

The Treasure Hunter's Code of Ethics

Recreational treasure hunters - those individuals who go out with metal detectors to back lots, deserted plots of land, and so on - are exploding, as people search for lost gold and silver jewelry and so on, now that the price for such metals is skyrocketing.

Many of these new treasure hunters are unfamiliar with the "code of ethics" or, it may be said, "manners" that should guide their hunting.

Here is the code of ethics, as propigated by the magazine: Western and Eastern Treasures:

I WILL respect private property and do no treasure hunting without the owner's permission.

I WILL fill all excavations

I WILL appreciate and protect our heritage of natural resources, wildlife, and private property.

I WILL use thoughtfulness, consideration, and courtesy at all times.

I WILL build fires in designated or safe places only - and make sure I put them out thoroughly and completely when I leave!

I WILL leave gates as found.

I WILL remove and propertly dispose of any trash that I find.

I WILL not litter.

I WILL NOT destroy property, buildings, or what is left of ghost towns or deserted structures.

I WILL NOT tamper with signs, structural facilities, or equipment.

Experiment complete!

And I see my Kindle subscribers will not be able to benefit from me posting newsclippings here!

Never fear, Kindle subscribers, I'll ensure you don't lose any information by it.

Anyway, the point is that Cussler, ever since his fortune was made with the sale of Raise the Titanic, has indulged in searches for shipwrecks, usually of a military nature such as those lost during the Civil War, and not necessarily for "treasure wrecks."

I was struck by his disdain for "methodology" as he recounted in his account of his search for the Cumberland and the Florida, because that kind of scientific approach to excavating is desperately needed.

I remember a few years ago I joined a scuba mailing list in which people were always talking about the "artifacts" they'd taken from various wrecks. The use of the term "artifact" fooled me (I was young and naive at the time), and it took me a few weeks to realize that when they said "artifact" what they really meant was "souvenir." They would go into all these old wrecks and remove a souvenir, probably harming the wreck in the process, so that now, any wreck found after twenty years will just be a collection of metal scrap, as anything historical that made the wreck worth diving on will long ago have disappeared into some scuba diver's living room, garage, or a landfill when he (or she) gets tired of looking at it.

Unfortunately, the damage has for the most part already been done. People's excuses are, "Well, if I don't take it someone else will," which is no more than the truth, of course.

That is one of the sad side-effects of more and more people learning how to scuba dive. It means more and more people can dive on wrecks, and, being human, they think that anything there is their's for the taking.

Sad.

Not that I'm saying that Cussler pilfered from any of the wrecks he found. No, the above was just a segue. What I'm saying is that "real" marine archoeolgists might have gotten annoyed at Cussler because his lack of methodology made their job of documenting the wreck that much harder. But...at least he found the wrecks.

In future entries in this blog I'll share more of Cussler's stories of looking for lost ships, planes and so on, as well as bios of the "real treasure hunters" like Art McKee, Robert Marx, Clifford Webb, and so on. In addition, I'll cover the people and organizations looking for aircraft wrecks, submarine wrecks, everything out there that is lost that will be found again.

Two Newspaper Articles, an experiment

If people visit this blog on the web, all they need to do is click on the photo and they will see the original size version, which will enable them to lead the text.

I'm uploading two versions of a newspaper article about Clive Cussler and his team having found the Merrimack, to see if it works for my Kindle subscribers.

If not, I'll rethink how to share this material so that all can benefit. ; )


Small version



Large version

In search of USS Cumberland and CSS Florida pt 2

After doing the research, with the help of his team, Cussler "calculated possible sites by overlaying a transparency from an old 1870 chart on top of the most modern chart. By comparing the landmarks from West's account [George West, a contemporary who'd seen salvage men working on the Florida] I could see that Pier 6 now corresponded with the Virginia Port Authority's Pier C (where the Florida subk), while the Norne Brothers Shipyard pier now stood over what had once been Piers 1 and 2 (where the Cumberland had sunk.)

ussler applied to the Virginia Marine Researve Commission for a permit to investigate underwater historic property.

Cussler had hired the use of the Sakonit, a yacht that was a hundred feet long, built in the 1920s, on whose decks had walked Presidents Coolidge and Hoover. It was owned by Danny Wilson, who lived aboard it with his family.

This first expedition accomplished little. Although Cussler had an experienced crew of underwater archeologists and divers with him (they'd volunteered):

On reflection I can see that our philosophies clashed. Broadwater and his crew were dead serious and expected a full-scale effort, but I was there strictly to investigate site conditions, study landmarks, and make a little whoopie on the side. A more extensive search would come later.

This first expedition was in 1981, and as may be expected, accomplished little. Cussler returned in July 1982.

In July 1982, Cussler and his team returned. Four of the archeologists from the Commonwealth of Virginia, who dove with him in 1981, had resigned and formed their own company, Underwater Archaeological Joint Ventures. They signed on with Cussler.

This time, Cussler applied to the Army Corps of Engineers to excavate the wreck sites - where he thought the Cumberland and Florida might be.

The team soon found that the site off Pier C was indeed the Cumberland (or so Cussler believed) and the other the Florida.

With the wreck sites now proven to be the two famous Civil War ships, at least to me if not to certified, card-carrying archaeologists, who insist on finding an engravec plaque giving the name, serial number, blood type and DNA, we dropped the curtain on our field activitities and concentrated on the preservation of the artifacts.

The artifacts were conserved and placed in the Mariners Museum.

Then, according to Cussler:

They were on display for nearly six months, when sone Navy admiral and the curator of the Navy Norfolk Museum walked in, asked to see [curator John] Sands, and contemptuously demanded he turn over, as they charitably put it, "our artifacts."

It seems the Judge Advocate of the Navy had a dream. He envisioned that my two years of research, the small fortune I spent on the project, and the indefatigable efforts of the UAJV guys were for the Navy's sole benefit. He sanctimoniously claimed the Department of the Navy owned both ships and all bits and pieces thereof.

The artifacts are now displayed in the navy's Norfolk Museum.

Wikipedia has this to say abut the Cumberland:

In 1981, the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA) contracted with Underwater Archaeological Joint Ventures (UAJV), a private firm based in Yorktown, VA. UAJV team members consulted local watermen whose oyster dredges had picked up artifacts for years) to help locate the ships. This information and a remote sensing survey, led archaeologists to two significant wrecks. The recovery of numerous artifacts confirmed that these shipwrecks were most likely Cumberland and CSS Florida. Artifacts recovered included fasteners, fittings, apothecary vessels, a ship's bell (from Cumberland), canon fuses and other ordnance items. The artifacts proved the NUMA/UAJV team had indeed found Cumberland and Florida. Most of the artifacts from this NUMA/UAJV excavation are on exhibit at the Hampton Roads Naval Museum in Norfolk, VA (Newport News Daily Press, 8 March 1987).

Cumberland today
Cumberland is currently a ship wreck under the protection of several Federal laws including the Sunken Military Craft Act of 2005, the Abandoned Shipwreck Act of 1987, and the Territorial Clause of the U.S. Constitution (which gives the U.S. Government exclusive rights to its own property). Federal courts have upheld these laws and the U.S. Government's exclusive rights to its own ships.

Since her sinking, the ship has been the subject of many expeditions. Some of these expeditions have been in violation of Federal law and artifacts were seized by Federal agents. Many artifacts from these expeditions (both legal and illegal) are at the Hampton Roads Naval Museum.

Wreck is facing west to east, with the bow of the vessel slightly above the floor of Hampton Roads.

and the Florida:

Today, many of the artifacts from CSS Florida are at the Hampton Roads Naval Museum.

(Note that anyone can edit the Wikipedia. Apparently a Cussler fan wrote the Cumberland entry, but a general person wrote the Florida entry.)

In doing searches of newspapers in the late 1970s and early 1980s, there are several entries for Clive Cussler using his newly-earned fortunate to indulge in marine archaeologly - I'll share some of these articles in my next post.