Any thoughts on wreck looting?

[Celt]

Warships remain the property of the nation's government in perpetuity regardless if anyone died.
If you see someone else shoplifting do you start stealing too?

Warships remain the property of the nation's government in perpetuity regardless if anyone died.
If you see someone else shoplifting do you start stealing too?

Thats rich, the navy pointing the finger at amateur divers considering the fact that the Royal Navy and NATO used the Lusitania for target practice and blew the stern of her with hedgehog bombs, they weren’t thinking of the 1200 people lost and there mass graves within sight of them.

 

[clownfishsydney]

In Australia all wrecks older than 75 years are totally protected. At times younger ones have been protected as well, but as far as I know, there are now none in this category.

What annoys me is that in some countries some warships are declared war graves and you cannot dive them at all. Why? You can go to France and Belgium and walk over the WWI battlefields in paddocks that contain thousands of dead Australians (and British), go to Gallipoli and walk on the beaches and hills where thousands of Australian, New Zealand and British soldiers were killed and still lie, sometimes bones still sticking up out of the ground. What is the difference with swimming through a wreck that contains bones of dead navy sailors? I do not understand this at all.

 

[Tassi Devil Diver]

Many of the wrecks in my area were pillaged many decades ago through the 60's, 70's and early 80's before the historic shipwreck protection legislation came in and there very little to see other than the structure of the wreck. There is one historic wreck that is in 70m and out of reach by 99.99% of divers in my region, this makes it a great dive because many the artefacts such a bottles plates, portholes are untouched and remain in situ.

Leave the stuff there for other divers to enjoy, look but don't touch.

 

[sskiver01]

If you want to take it have a memory or keepsake, take a photo leave if for the dead or another diver to see! Just my two cents.

 

[Celt]

View attachment 459087 Now unless otherwise prohibited...non military vessels are salvageable...and this becomes ditchable weight.

Very nice hammer , where could I get myself one of those, very handy working on moorings etc.

 

[king_of_battle]

Very nice hammer , where could I get myself one of those, very handy working on moorings etc.

Nut Buster , Piranha Dive Shop |

not sure if they ship international though.

 

[falcon125]

On land its garbage. Throw it in the ocean and its an artifact. People are funny.

 

[covediver]

salvage is essentially a commercial enterprise and in the United States one judicially monitored by the Federal District Court when one claims a wreck. looting by definition is then the unauthorized take of items from a wreck. "Finders Keepers" which is oft cited as the basis for "I can take whatever I want without regard to anyone's claim," is a self-serving justification for looting. I could never figure out why people who have no legitimate claim to an item would deprive others of the experience that he or she so highly prizes.

 

[flymolo]

Brass artifacts, probably ok. Hammering the door frame loose from a shipwreck? That I'm not so sure about.

And yes I've seen it.

 

[lowviz]

I read about stuff being lifted from WWI and WWII submarines and other wrecks in European waters without permission. I was just wondering what other people think about it? Should the things stay on the sunken ships and submarines?

Military ships, yes. It is clearly illegal to remove anything from any military ship. So now you have a simple answer. But things are much more complex than that.

Great Lakes, USA? I vote 'no touch'. The great lakes preserve their wrecks. Tourist attractions like Bonaire? Same, don't mess.

My backyard in the northeastern US? First, I only dive inshore wrecks and they have (all but a few) been wire-dragged and dynamited as shipping hazards long before I ever got to them. So I would caution you that there is no right and wrong unless you are an extremist. I like to dig in the ruins to recover a story. My best is below:

Article: The Number One Rule In Scuba Diving: No Touching!