Richie Kohler accused of looting

[cdiver2]

For me there is no one simple answer.
Some historically significant wrecks need to be explored and artifacts recovered for history’s sake, investigations by authorities and/or experts to determine the cause of sinking. Many should be left for simple salvage and removing any contaminants.

There should be a few reserved for rec/tech divers to view and enjoy.

Ships or airplanes, both civilian and military sunk in battle should be left as military graves with allowance for artifact removal to positively identify the vessel or craft.
Ships sank as artificial reefs should be stripped pretty clean before sinking but should be protected from any further molestation.

That leaves undiscovered wrecks with little or no historical significance. I can tell you that if I discovered some old world ship wreck laden with a cargo of gold and silver in Davey Jones’s locker, I’m going to claim it, recover the gold and silver and sell the remaining artifacts to the highest bidder.

There is no one rule that applies for all wrecks, each should be evaluated on its own merits.

It is not yours to designate what should be done with it.

 

[Teamcasa]

That's why I said, "For me.." in the first sentence.

 

[MSilvia]

It is not yours to designate what should be done with it.

With all due respect, if I find a shipwreck no one else is aware of, the responsibility for determining what should be done with it, at least initially, is entirely mine. Artifacts aside, at a fundamental level the choice of whether or not to even bring the wreck to anyone else's attention is one the discoverers must make for themselves.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

With all due respect, if I find a shipwreck no one else is aware of, the responsibility for determining what should be done with it, at least initially, is entirely mine. Artifacts aside, at a fundamental level the choice of whether or not to even bring the wreck to anyone else's attention is one the discoverers must make for themselves.

FWIW - I dive with a group that spends a lot of time side-scanning Lake Washington. There's at least a couple hundred known wrecks down there ... and most of 'em are at unpublished coordinates. You want to dive 'em, go find 'em.

The reason is that as soon as someone publishes coordinates, these things get trashed. By making people work to find 'em, you not only keep traffic to a minimum, but someone who's going to work that hard to locate a wreck to dive on is most likely not going to want to see pieces of it end up in someone else's garage or basement ... they'll be putting those coordinates into their GPS so they can dive it again and again ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[deco_martini]

They came out with this cool new device for capturing artifact data so you can examine it back on the surface without running afoul of decency or various laws. Its called a camera. Mine says Sony on the side. Seriously, google it. There some company called Ikelite that makes housing for them even.

 

[cdiver2]

That's why I said, "For me.." in the first sentence.

I said Why in the title. A lot of divers seem to think they are owed rights to wrecks.

If you go through the prosess you can own a wreck, I thought about doing this in the UK but sense prevailed.

If you do now the shoe is on the other foot its up to you to keep looters of the wreck not an easy task.

Imagine you do buy a wreck. You take the props,ships wheel, telegraph and you get Lucky and find the ships bell, thats it, nothing of value left. You don't dive it for twenty years then one day you overhear a conversation saying "so and so found 200 Carson City gold dollars ON YOUR WRECK. You would want them, and by law they are yours even though you had not dived it in twenty years, (you did not abandon it).

 

[Teamcasa]

...Imagine you do buy a wreck. You take the props,ships wheel, telegraph and you get Lucky and find the ships bell, thats it, nothing of value left. You don't dive it for twenty years then one day you overhear a conversation saying "so and so found 200 Carson City gold dollars ON YOUR WRECK. You would want them, and by law they are yours even though you had not dived it in twenty years, (you did not abandon it).

If I purchase anything, it is my responsibility to protect (or insure) it, or not. If I leave it unattended for x number of years, I have abandoned it or at the very least, did not care about it. If some guy found something valuable on my property, sure I would make an attempt to get it back. However, the odds of my success diminish as the years and lack of protection grow.

 

[cdiver2]

With all due respect, if I find a shipwreck no one else is aware of, the responsibility for determining what should be done with it, at least initially, is entirely mine. Artifacts aside, at a fundamental level the choice of whether or not to even bring the wreck to anyone else's attention is one the discoverers must make for themselves.

As far as I know there is no law that says you have to divulge the location of a wreck you find. But the conversation is about removing things, and the law is clear on that.

 

[cdiver2]

If I purchase anything, it is my responsibility to protect (or insure) it, or not. If I leave it unattended for x number of years, I have abandoned it or at the very least, did not care about it. If some guy found something valuable on my property, sure I would make an attempt to get it back. However, the odds of my success diminish as the years and lack of protection grow.

the Maritime law, its not abandoned until the owner Say's so or can not be found

 

[Teamcasa]

the Maritime law, its not abandoned until the owner Say's so or can not be found

Not to belabor my point but regardless of any law, If I leave a sack of money in my front yard or a box of coins in the sea, unattended for God knows how long, it would not surprise me that upon my return, I could no longer find either one. Sure someone broke the law, but I also left the booty where it could be found. Stupid me.