Shipwrecks

Headline:

“Secrets Under the Sea"

Secondary headline:

Robbing marine antiquities isn’t a beneficial business and fish aren't about to enforce maritime law, leaving archaeology authorities almost helpless to stop the thieves.

Lead:

Shipwrecks and sunken treasure, like in the movie Indiana Jones, are the item of childhood imagination, where desire and avidity meets truthfulness and sincerity to mix fluently into a dreamy potion of adventure and mysteries. They are also the source of an important controversy between those who feel that shipwrecks should be preserved for the benefit of the public and museums (aka the archaeologist), and private treasure hunters who feel they have a right to whatever valuables they find: finders keepers.

Body 1:

Far beneath the ocean waves, laying silently on the cold sea beds around the world, are the remains of about three million shipwrecks that have sunk such as the famous Titanic. As more submerged artifacts become accessible, archaeologists are worried and want to abolish the concept of finders keepers, because shipwrecks are an important pillar in the historical research and an essential source for the circumstance surrounding the ship in that time. For example, the amphorae, tall jars from the Neolithic Period, were used for storage various products both dry and liquid; such as tea and spices, but mostly for wine. They are really beneficial to archaeologists because finding these meant that there was a ship nearby and they were also helpful to reveal who had possession of the ship and how people lived.

Body 2:

Should an historic artifact recovered from a shipwreck be treated with the same respect as one unearthed by an archaeological dig on land? Yes. Indeed, UNESCO - the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization - an institution that’s purpose is to contribute to peace and security by promoting international collaboration through educational, scientific, and cultural reforms in order to increase universal respect for justice, the rule of law, and human rights along with fundamental freedom proclaimed in the United Nations Charter, declared a new international convention clarifying that any shipwreck older than 100 years is a “cultural deposit” and a “patrimony of mankind”. Meaning that the site, where is located the ship, has to be secured or conserved if it has a meaningful historical purpose. Despite the provinces, such as Quebec and Ontario, whose government wishes to have custody of the shipwrecks, we have Nova Scotia, an exemplary model to follow, whose government is ready to help preserve the artifacts of maritime history from Canada.

Conclusion:

In short, with the advent of more sophisticated technology for the search and recovery of deep-sea shipwrecks, the issue of ownership has achieved increasing emphasis. The present conflicts among finders/salvors, owners, governments, preservationists, and cultural property advocates show the weakness of the current laws governing shipwrecks in international waters. The case of Odyssey Treasure Fight demonstrates the need for reform of this an antiquity area of law.

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