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Shipwreck exploration is delayed until October

By DONALD W. PATTERSON, Staff Writer

On Oct. 1, divers will begin systematically exploring the most tantalizing shipwreck ever discovered off the North Carolina coast.

By the end of that month, they hope to say for certain what many experts already suspect -- that the ship once belonged to Blackbeard.

"I would say there is a good chance that we would be able to do that," says Richard Lawerence, a state underwater archaeologist. "The thing is (to say) this is or is not the Queen Anne's Revenge."

So far, archaeologists have visited the site, which was discovered near Beaufort Inlet last November, only four times. And then only briefly. But that's about to change.

In October, a 10-man crew working operating from at least three boats will begin an archaeological process that could take as long as six years to complete.

"We want to hit it hard and see how much we can learn ... and try to figure out what we are dealing with," Lawerence says.

Before work begins, however, three issues must be resolved:

  • An agreement must be reached between the state and the other parties involved.

    The site was found in state waters by Intersal Inc., a private organizations based in Boca Raton, Fla. Formed in 1988 to look for historic shipwrecks, Intersal has formed a non-profit organization called the Maritime Research Institute, which will work with the state in excavating the site and conserving artifacts found there.

    "We all have to know exactly what is expected of us, and what we expect of one another," State Archaeologist Steve Claggett says of the agreement. "This has to be done right."

    The framework of an agreement exists, but nothing has been finalized.

  • A sophisticated security system must be put in place to protect the site from modern-day pirates. Archaeologists have not revealed the precise location of the shipwreck in Beaufort Inlet. But because the wreck is so close to shore, divers will not be able to keep the site secret once they begin their work.

  • The state must set aside money to finance the work. Officials at the State Department of Cultural Resources say archaeologist will need $1.3 million over the next two years to begin excavating, cataloging and conserving artifacts. They have not estimated how much the entire project will cost. So far, the General Assembly has included only $200,000 in the budget for work at the wreck site.

    "We're trying to get the money as we need it," says Betty McCain, secretary of Cultural Resources, the department which will over see the exploration. "Whatever it takes, we're going to raise it somehow."

    Others involved agree.

    "It may not be done in a quick manner, but we'll get the job done," says Phil Masters, president of Intersal. "All of us feel this site deserves serious financial backing from the state and the private sector .... This is too important a project for it to be left in the lurch."

    The unresolved issues have delayed work considerably.

    "It probably means we are not going to be able to do some things this year," says Mary L. Cook, public affairs director for Cultural Resources. "We had really hoped to start it before now."

    When work does begin, crews will first use a boat equipped with a remote sensing device to survey the area around the wreck. That will tell archaeologists if there are other objects on the bottom that divers may have missed in their initial visits.

    Once that is done, divers will visit the site to map the exposed features of the wreck. Then, they'll try to determine the size of the ship. As they do that, divers will tag and retrieve some of the scattered artifacts and take them to the surface, where the items will go through various preservation steps.

    • Posted by The Depot and News & Record Online
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