Historic shipwrecks
2012 shipwreck photography competition
Photographers from all over the world are invited to enter now: AIMA 2012 shipwreck photography competition
Australia protects its shipwrecks and their associated relics that are older than 75 years through the Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976. The Historic Shipwrecks Act applies to Australian waters that extend from the low tide mark to the end of the continental shelf and is administered in collaboration between the Commonwealth and the States, Northern Territory and Norfolk Island. Some Australian shipwreck sites lie within protected or no-entry zones.
The Historic Shipwrecks Act is delivered through the Historic Shipwrecks Program. Its objectives are to research, explore, document and protect Australia's historic shipwreck heritage. Each State or Territory program offers different opportunities for public participation as do maritime archaeological volunteer associations that exist in Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia.
7 May 2012
Australia protects US warships lost in the Battle of the Coral Sea
Heritage Minister, Tony Burke, has declared the United States warships the USS Lexington, USS Sims and USS Neosho sunk during the Battle of the Coral Sea as protected historic shipwrecks under the Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976.
30 March 2012
UWA leads Port Phillip Bay colonial shipwreck excavation.
A leading archaeologist from The University of Western Australia will head a team of 60 people excavating a significant colonial shipwreck in Victoria's Port Phillip Bay next month.
20 March 2012
Australian Historic Shipwreck Protection Project
The Australian Historic Shipwreck Protection Project website has gone live at www.ahspp.org.au . Follow this project which will excavate one of Australia's earliest built vessels and in Port Phillip, Victoria in 2012.
18 February 2012
US Ambassador presents recovered historic shipwreck artefact to new Defence of Darwin Museum
On the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Darwin, an anti-aircraft shell that was illegally taken from the SS Florence D (1942) shipwreck in 2011 and recovered following an investigation by the Commonwealth in cooperation with Northern Territory Heritage Branch authorities, has been presented to the new Defence of Darwin Museum by the United States Ambassador Jeffrey Bleich.
20 January 2012
Discovery of the historic shipwreck Royal Charlotte
A joint research team from the Australian National Maritime Museum and the Silentworld Foundation have announced the discovery of remains of the historic shipwreck Royal Charlotte on Frederick Reef in the Coral Sea.
6 January 2012
Korean nationals fined for entering SS Yongala shipwreck
Two South Korean nationals received fines after pleading guilty in the Townsville Magistrates Court to charges related to offences under the Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976.