Underwater 'safe' protects £5m shipwreck treasures

[Alexandre]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...treasures.html


Underwater 'safe' protects £5m shipwreck treasures
A shipwreck containing £5million worth of ancient treasures is being protected by a cage, creating a giant underwater safe, in Croatia.

The Times: 10:50AM BST 27 Apr 2010

Croatian authorities are so concerned about looters plundering the valuable artefacts they have now protected the site with a metal cage

The second century Greek trading vessel lies on the sea bed off the coast of Cavtat.
Little remains of the wooden ship but its cargo of earthenware amphora - ceramic vases - still remain stacked row upon row.
The vases, which originally contained olive oil and wine, are still tightly packed into the cargo hold as they were centuries ago.
Its cargo - one of the best preserved from an ancient wreck - has great historical significance and has an estimated value of £5m on the black market.
Croatian authorities are so concerned about looters plundering the valuable artefacts they have now protected the site - with a metal cage.
The heavy-duty cage features a large hinged door, which is kept locked with occasional access granted for divers under strict supervision.
Underwater photographer Neil Hope, of Torpoint in Cornwall, was among those given permission to dive the wreck.
He said: ''I'm an experienced diver and I've dived wrecks all over the world, but this was the most unique experience.
''I was taken down there by the man who discovered it. As soon as we were finished they closed the door and locked it up again.
''Obviously when you are inside you can't touch any of the cargo as it is very valuable, so they don't just let anyone inside the cage.
''You need excellent buoyancy skills so you're not damaging these valuable things.''
He was working on an assignment for the British Sub-Aqua Club's (BS-AC) DIVE magazine.

[Salvor6]

What are they going to do, leave it all down there? What a waste!

[allen_idaho]

It looks to be very shallow with great visibility. They have already marked out the entire wreck site for the cage. They could very easily salvage the site and probably make a cool $5 million in profit. What a waste.

Another fine example of preserving a wreck site that only a handful of people will ever see.

[mariner]

With that visibility, it looks as if they could make a great video of it all, enabling us all to see what an undisturbed 2nd Century wreck looks like, something almost none of us would otherwise have the opportunity to see. Doesn't seem such a bad thing to leave it undisturbed as far as I am concerned, and they are certainly right in protecting the site from looters.

Mariner

[Salvor6]

The problem with that Mariner is they don't know what is underneath.

[Darren in NC]

If 1800 years have gone by with no one disturbing it, why put up a cage? Are they passing out the coords? I'm confident that a metal cage will mark the spot nicely, attract even more attention and invite vandalism.

I like mariner's idea of shooting footage and sharing it. I also think once ample footage is taken, it should be carefully recovered by archaeologists and trained divers. Then the cargo could be displayed in a museum or traveling exhibit for all to see. Artifacts of numerous duplicity could be sold (to other museums or collectors) to cover the costs of recovery. It's a wonderful find.

Darren

[mariner]

Darren,

I agree completely with you, and that also accommodates Salvor 6's comment.

Imagine finding something like that !!

Mariner