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The NewsRoom
Release: #3682
Date: May 22, 2007
200-year-old Shipwreck to be Recovered in Gulf of Mexico
MMS Protects
Nation’s Historic Treasures
NEW ORLEANS
—
The
archaeological excavation of a historic shipwreck located in Federal
waters 40 miles off the Louisiana coast begins today when
archaeologists from the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Minerals
Management Service (MMS) and Texas A&M University’s Department of
Oceanography and Nautical Archaeology Program depart for the
shipwreck site which lies in 4,000 feet of water. The record water
depth makes it the deepest shipwreck in the world ever to be
scientifically excavated for a non-commercial purpose.
Funded by the
Okeanos Gas Gathering Company (OGGC) through an agreement with the
MMS, the expedition team will excavate the shipwreck which was
discovered along the route of a gas pipeline in what was then the
Mardi Gras Gas Transportation System operated by OGGC. The pipeline
which gathers natural gas from deepwater fields in the Gulf is now
operated by BP America and an Enbridge Inc. subsidiary.
“This wreck
dates from an extremely fascinating and important time in the
history of the Gulf of Mexico,” said MMS Acting Regional Director
Lars Herbst, “This ship likely sailed around the time of the
Louisiana Purchase, the War of 1812, and the infamous buccaneer Jean
Lafitte. Its recovery will tell a story about what life at sea was
like at that time that cannot be found in the history books.”
The actual
identity of the ship is not yet known; archaeologists have dubbed it
the “Mardi Gras Shipwreck” after the pipeline where it was found.
Very little is known about the ship. Using deep sea robots called
Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) scientists have been able to view
the wreck through cameras in depths that are many times deeper than
divers could reach and would crush most manned submersibles. What
archaeologists have seen so far has caused them to speculate that
the ship was a small merchant vessel or, possibly, a privateer and
that it sank sometime between 1780 and 1820. The ship carried a
cannon and a wooden chest filled with small arms, such as pistols,
muskets, and swords.
Because of the
great depth of the shipwreck, where the weight of sea water exerts
almost 1,700 pounds of pressure per square inch, the excavation will
rely entirely on a robotic ROV operating from a 265-foot long ship
positioned over the site. Both the ship and ROV are under contract
with Veolia Environmental Services, the world’s second-largest waste
services company. The ROV is equipped with special tools to be able
to photograph, map, and recover artifacts as fragile as an
hourglass, of which at least three have been seen so far on the
shipwreck, or as large as the cast-iron ship’s stove, one of only
four such stoves known to exist in the world.
A web site,
hosted by the Florida Public Archaeology Network, will provide
regular updates from the expedition team. The public will be able to
take part in the discoveries as they are made at sea by visiting
http://www.flpublicarchaeology.org/mardigras/.
Artifacts
recovered from the site will be donated to the Louisiana Department
of Culture, Recreation, and Tourism for display at one of the
facilities of the Louisiana State Museum.
Relevant Web Site:
MMS Main Website
Media Contact:
Caryl Fagot
504-736-2590
Eileen Angelico
504-736-2595
MMS: Securing Ocean Energy & Economic Value for
America
U.S. Department of the Interior
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