I think where most wrecks are concerned any diver willing to go to the effort of getting a porthole or something deserves it. We worked a number of wrecks in the 80,s and 90,s one of which “S.S. Barrister” 3600 ton. I personally bought from the Liverpool and London war risks insurance ass. All these wrecks are rotting and collapsed and if a diver can get stuff of them then fair play to them and I’d give them a clap on the back for the effort
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oldschoolto
Contributor
Is it ok
Jim..
Is it okay to burn the other guys flag, To dive the German sub' s... How about digging up graves of those long gone? How about the valley of the kings.. Should that be off limits.. To me, it's all fair game or it's all off limits.. I find it very funny that people pick and choose what is okay and what's off limits..
Jim..
I think it is our prerogative to pick and choose what we salvage. It's all based on your ethics. There may not be a true logical rhyme or reason to it but there comes a point where the human impact of the site is diminished to an extent that we have no qualms about salvaging artifacts. WW2 is quickly fading from living memory and with it, the emotional impact .
I don’t particularly like digging up pharoahs...what’s the point. I’m not a big fan of digging up war graves...from any country...but I have my own biases that cause me to think that way. Even then, I’m not against salvaging significant parts of war graves for historic preservation, assuming the dead are left undisturbed.
I mentioned theft of deadeyes from the Wells Burt wreck off Chicago in the late 80s/early 90s. I dove that wreck yesterday. Here you can see chains through the remaining dead eyes on the wreck, to keep them on the wreck!
finally some good news in regards to looters..
CT-Rich
Contributor
I believe you can recover artifacts from the Andrea Doria legally. I forget the exact path, but a diver was granted salvage rights to the ship and it is pretty much, if you can lift it, you can keep it situation (others may correct me on this). Artifacts used to identify an unknown wreck are separate from those taken for souvenirs.
Most recovered artifacts will end up deteriorating on a shelf somewhere and go unidentified to Good Will. Your “treasure” will most likely end up forgotten before the wreck herself.
War graves are just that. You may not care, but others do, so respect them. I think most divers would be excited to find a intact tea cup or sextant from your typical debris field that used to be a wreck. It would be hard to swim past an interesting tidbit exposed by a recent storm....
My personal fantasy find is a duffle bag of cash that was dumped by fleeing drunk dealers. That will definitely find its way to my car trunk. A chest of Spanish gold? That might too, but I would get a lawyer before it gets turned in....
lermontov
Contributor
thats a ridiculous sentence there are far worse crimes that receive that sort of jail time
Some background and context information would be nice...
UFOrb
Contributor
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