The average lifespan of a ship is 25-30 years. After this span, the ship may become too expensive to operate, but most importantly, to become unseaworthy putting human safety at risk. So, have you ever wondered what happens to a ship when it is too old to sail?
The most popular underwater shipwreck, “RMS Titanic” will be from now on protected under the international treaty between the United Kingdom and the United States. According to the U.K.’s Maritime Minister Nusrat Ghani, both sides passed legislation which allows them to grant or deny licenses to enter the hulls of the wreckage and remove artifacts found outside.
Archaeologists discovered two 500-year-old iron ship anchors on Mexico’s Gulf Coast, claiming that they may have belonged to the fleet led by Spain’s Hernán Cortés, who conquered the Aztec empire in the 16th century.
Vulcan’s R/V petrel deep-sea team, dives into the ocean and researches the WWII Fletcher class destroyer at a record depth of 20,400 feet., meaning the deepest discovery of a shipwreck. To be more specific, the vessel lies at a depth of of 6,220 (3.9 miles) meters on the edge of the Emden Deep in the Philippine Sea.
Researchers discovered the wreck of the Imperial Japanese Navy carrier ‘IJN Kaga’ which sank at the Battle of Midway in June 1942. The wreck is located in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument off the Midway Atoll.
The Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (HaV) announced it will empty oil from the ‘Finnbirch’ shipwreck, which has been leaking oil for over a year, off Öland, posing an environmental risk for local ecosystems of the Baltic Sea.
IMO will continue promoting ratification of the international treaty covering wreck removal, at the 10th Maritime Salvage & Casualty Response Conference in London, this week (11-12 September). The Nairobi Wreck Removal Convention has been in force since 2015 and currently has 47 contracting States, representing 73% of world gross tonnage.
Experts in Canada have published haunting images of HMS Terror, one of the world’s most famous ‘lost ships’, 170 years after the ship perished in the Arctic along with its 129 crewmen. Led by explorer Sir John Franklin in 1848, the HMS Terror was on its way to find the Northwest Passage.
EYOS Expeditions staff have led an expedition to the Titanic, deploying a submersible to conduct several dives on the wreck over a 10-day period. The wreck has become vulnerable from sweeping eddies and subjected to ever-changing sea currents. The wreck is being slowly consumed by the strong, deep currents that flow through the Atlantic here, along with natural salt corrosion and metal eating bacteria.
Using advanced underwater robotics, an international team of scientists has revealed the remains of an intact shipwreck from the Early Modern Period (late 15th – early 16th century) in the Baltic Sea. The project comes as a result of the ongoing partnership between MMT and the University of Southampton.
