In October 1997 the Times of London announced the sale by
auction of fourteen hundred gold coins that formed part of the hoard
lost by Clive of India when the East Indiaman Dodington was
wrecked in Algoa Bay on July 17, 1755. The wreck and its contents lie
within South African territorial waters and are protected by South
African heritage legislation. Very little gold has ever been reported
recovered, despite ongoing excavations, and only a single permit has
been issued for the export and sale of twenty–one gold coins. This article will consider the legal steps taken to repatriate the coins, and the difficulties encountered when taking such steps before a foreign court. It evaluates the extent to which existing international conventions, including the recently adopted UNESCO Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage, are able to assist states in repatriating stolen or illegally exported underwater cultural heritage.
This poster sets out a proposal for the management of shipwrecks with the potential to cause oil pollution incidents. The poster will outline the legal framework of key European nation states and will look at international agreements relating to potentially polluting shipwrecks. It will propose a management plan that can be adopted by European countries in the form of either international agreements or through the European Union, which will include guidelines that should be adopted for the management of individual wreck sites. The classification of shipwrecks with the potential to release oil has been well documented through a number of papers, including the most recent study by NOAA in 2013. To supplement this process, subsurface oil spill modelling can be used to demonstrate the potential spatial footprint of the oil and indicate transboundary boundary maritime effects. These effects are a primary factor in the successful management of wrecks at risk in the European context. Building on the current European and International legislation, a suggested platform for proactive management will be proposed. The value of having a European body will enable a focused approach to deal with complex International and National relationships. In addition to a standard risk assessment for each wreck, its sovereignty, the territorial waters it is located in, and the territorial waters and coastline that may be effected in the event of a pollution incident, need to be considered, and included within the management plan. This gives rise to network of stakeholders whose inclusion into the process is imperative for successful outcomes. A European body responsible for the management of potentially polluting wrecks allows the issue to be removed from individual national interests. A dedicated pan-European body can focus on the wider issue of potential transboundary oil pollution and coordinate multiple resources to effectively address the issue.
Project BackgroundAs an island nation located on the maritime approaches to northern Europe, and given its historic role as a major maritime and imperial power, the United Kingdom (UK) has a very varied and rich underwater cultural heritage (UCH).This underwater cultural heritage comprises a range of elements, including:• Shipwrecks and related seabed debris;• Aircraft wrecks and related seabed debris; and • Submerged prehistoric and historic landsurfaces, sites and objects.This Project will focus on the shipwreck element of this wider underwater cultural heritage.The UK has a wide range of shipwrecks of many nations within its territorial sea and adjacent international waters. Having been a major naval power since the late sixteenth century, and the world's largest such power from the early eighteenth century until well into the twentieth century, supplemented by a merchant marine of equal scale, the UK also has historical ties to many shipwrecks in the territorial seas and adjacent waters of a considerable number of States elsewhere in the world.Underwater cultural heritage in the UK's territorial sea can be afforded appropriate protection under domestic law, policy and practice. However, the threats posed by human activities of all sorts to UCH in international waters adjacent to the coast of the UK, and on UCH elsewhere in the world, both within other States' jurisdiction and in international waters, in which the UK has an interest, continue to grow. The discovery in the last few decades of wrecks such as RMS Titanic (1912) in 3,800 m of water, and Royal Navy vessels like HMS Hood (1941) in 2,700 m of water, HMS Ark Royal (1941) in 1,070 m of water and HMS Victory (1744) in 90 m of water, for example, shows that continuing developments in underwater technology mean that sites to which access was impossible until relatively recently are now accessible to those with the funds to pay for this J. Gribble (&) PMSS, Broadwater House,
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