NorthSea:Wreckages

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Wreckages

Layer Info
Category	Shipping
Editable	Yes
Data source	Estimations & data fragments
Types
Wreckages

Description

Wrecks

Beneath the waves of the North Sea lies a valuable archaeological resource. Thousands of wrecks – of ships and also planes – lie like time capsules on the sea bed. Little remains of some wrecks, while others are still virtually intact. We do not know the precise location of some, and are entirely unaware of the existence of others.

Wrecks and obstructions also do not lie on the seabed. Tidal currents cause turbulences that pull grinding channels in the seabed around a wreck. A wreck can slip away and become completely buried by the sandy seabed over the years.

Importance of wrecks

Every wreck is unique and tells its own story. Many ships have sunk in this region over the centuries, from prehistoric dugout canoes to Viking ships, from Dutch East India Company ships to steamships, from submarines to patrol boats, and from fishing boats to more recently lost freighters. Together, these wrecks give us an insight into the maritime history of the North Sea, which gives them great cultural importance.

Wrecks are also biodiversity hotspots, home to entirely different plants and creatures than the surrounding sea bed. This also makes wrecks interesting for fishermen and divers. Not every wreck is ecologically valuable. This depends on various factors, including the age of the wreck, the material in the wreck and its distance from the coast.

MSP Challenge

The layer wrecks gives a general overview of archaeological remains in the North Sea. An unknown number of them consists of archaeological remains, including old shipwrecks and settlements. Another part consists of lost cargo, sunken ships and ship components.

Legislation

Various international agreements and laws apply to archaeology in the North Sea.

• The European Cultural Convention (1954) is the framework for European collaboration on culture and the heritage. The convention contains articles on the preservation of the common European heritage.
• The Granada Convention (1985) builds on the European Cultural Convention and the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. It sets out a broader definition of heritage, encompassing the industrial heritage, cultural landscapes, ensembles and the movable heritage. The convention also contains provisions on cataloguing, documenting, protecting and restoring the heritage.
• The Malta Convention (1992) is designed to afford the buried archaeological heritage better protection. It regulates, among other things, preservation of archaeological values in situ, consideration of the archaeological heritage in spatial plans and the funding of archaeological research (‘the developer pays’).
• The UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage (2001) contains a set of rules for the protection of the heritage under water, and an Annex setting out a code of conduct for dealing with this heritage. The convention is intended to protect the underwater heritage all over the world through international collaboration.
• The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982) states that the heritage on the sea and ocean bed should benefit mankind as a whole and that states must work together to protect it.
• The Nairobi International Convention on the Removal of Wrecks (2007) is designed to enable states to remove wrecks outside territorial waters if they pose a potential threat to the safety of human life, goods and property. It has not yet come into force.
• The European Directives on the environmental impact assessment of projects and spatial plans stipulate that these EIA procedures must identify the impact on the cultural heritage and archaeological resources and investigate how they can best be mitigated.

The above conventions and regulations have been implemented in different ways in national legislation and policy.

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