The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Frustrated wreck salvagers are visiting Nassau this week to discover why the Government has delayed acting on their licence applications for more than two years, amid fears the Bahamas is losing out on its heritage and a multi-million dollar economic boost.

Anthony Howorth, past chairman of the Bahamas Association of Treasure Salvors, told Tribune Business that some groups regarded the Government’s failure to move ahead on any of the 18 salvage licence applications before it as “an insult”.

Writing a column on Page 3B of Tribune Business today, Mr Howorth said: “The Government has allowed $9,000 to be paid in application fees for licenses to search for ancient wrecks for over two years without granting one license.

“I understand the foreign applicants regard this lack of response as an insult, and many in the archaeological community and in the diving industry are very concerned that illegal piracy of ancient wrecks is being carried out without any arrests being made.

“Several concerned American applicants are in Nassau this week to find out why their application has not resulted in a license being granted.”

Mr Howorth also expressed concern that the licence delays showed a “lack of appreciation” by the Government for “the Bahamian heritage still either undiscovered or unrecovered which lies in our waters”.

Writing in Tribune Business today, Mr Howorth said that after the moratorium on wreck searches and salvage leases was lifted in 2006, it took two governments before applications were finally invited in 2012. Some 18 applicants replied, paying the $500 application fee.

“Moreover, the regulations also provided that the applicant was to receive a definite response of ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to his application within three months,” Mr Howorth said.

“No such responses have been received by any applicant, except to say that they are under consideration. The application fees have not been returned. So what is going on?”

Mr Howorth said it was “most disappointing” that Bahamian taxpayer funds were being invested in the Antiquities, Monuments and Museums Corporation (AMMC) to manage such an industry, only for the licence application silence to “delay and frustrate all involved”.

“The whole business of recovering our ancient heritage under the seabed is a win-win situation for all concerned,”argued Mr Howorth, given that a licensee must pay all preservation costs for recovered artefacts.

These would be taken and preserved in a government-nominated facility, with the Government getting first choice of the items that will form its 25 per cent recovery share.

Artefacts will be professionally valued before the exploration group gets its 75 per cent share, with the licensee also paying all regulatory costs.

“The costs of such an expedition include services and supplies which need to be bought in the Bahamas,” Mr Howorth added.

“Bahamian divers and crew can be employed. Foreign personnel must apply for and pay for work permits. By living on the wreck site, the wreck is protected from vandalism and piracy.”

Proven wreck sites could be designated as National Heritage sites, with recovered artefacts also preserved in museums, both of which would help attract extra visitors to the Bahamas.

“All this is a win-win situation for the Government. So why is there this long delay in signing licenses? The economy needs every new business, and every new business creates economic activity worth five times’ one salary,” Mr Howorth argued.

Tribune Business has previously revealed the Bahamas’ potential as a hotbed of wreck salvaging and heritage recovery activity, with observers suggesting its proper creation - and regulation - would create a multi-million dollar industry and employment opportunities, while also preventing the piracy of historic artefacts.

This newspaper reported how Tampa-based Odyssey Marine Exploration, a “world leader” in shipwreck salvaging that was featured in a Discovery Channel documentary, was negotiating with the Government over conducting treasure-hunting exploration in Bahamian waters.

The company, which was seen by TV viewers recovering 1,218 silver bullion ingots from a World War II wreck 4,700 metres deep off the Irish coast, met Prime Minister Perry Christie and other Bahamian government officials about conducting similar operations in the wreck-rich Bahamian waters.

Among prime Bahamian exploration targets are likely to be the wreck of the Nuestra de Signora Maravillas, thought to have gone down with $8 billion in gold in shallow waters off Grand Bahama’s West End, plus the Capitana, believed to have sunk with an estimated $2 billion in golds and emeralds from Colombia.

And an idea of what the treasure/wreck salvaging industry could generate for the Bahamas, in terms of economic impact, is hinted at by a 2008 survey of what it has done for Florida.

The survey, prepared for the Mel Fisher Centre, found that state’s marine salvage sector had directly generated economic activity worth $70.9 million per annum, and some 550 jobs. Earnings produced by the sector stood at $26.2 million.

“Museums, retailing operations and the donation to Florida of more than 38,000 salvaged items of historic and cultural value have benefited Florida and its citizens, as well as citizens from across the world who have visited here,” the report said.