Shipwrecks are invaluable in reconstructing life-styles no longer existing and represent a buried treasure in terms of knowledge about life on board, boat construction and trade routes.

A shipwreck is a time capsule waiting to be unlocked since time stops when a vessel founders.

At present, there is no international legal instrument which adequately protects the underwater cultural heritage, which is increasingly threatened by pillage and natural damage. This has led to the irretrievable loss of a vast part of our collective cultural heritage.

What does the underwater cultural heritage consist of?

Historic shipwrecks, sunken cities and structures such as the Alexandria Lighthouse, underwater cave paintings, Neolithic lake settlements…

Diving into the past, the underwater cultural heritage is a significant component of human history. Like land-based cultural heritage, it is an integral part of the common heritage of humanity, and it deserves similar attention and management.

Why the urgency?

In some parts of the world, virtually no underwater site has been left unpillaged. For example, the Turkish authorities have found that no Classical Age wreck off the country’s coast has been left untouched.

Modern diving techniques have made the seabed accessible to all. This has led to extensive looting by treasure hunters who often disregard ownership rights and scientific/archaeological methods of excavation. They thereby damage the remainder of the site and deprive the general public of these treasures. Likewise tourists diving, the fishing industry, pipe-laying and other activities on the sea-bed can harm or destroy the underwater cultural heritage. This increase in theft and destruction results in the irretrievable loss of our common heritage. It is therefore a matter not only of necessity but of urgency to adopt an international instrument in order to preserve the underwater cultural heritage.

Much of the world’s underwater heritage escapes any national control as it is located on the outer reaches of the continental shelf or deep seabed. As early as 1956, UNESCOs Recommendation on International Principles Applicable to Archaeological Excavation applied to underwater sites within national jurisdiction. There is a need for an international legal instrument to protect this heritage, wherever it may be. UNESCO has prepared an international convention aimed at protecting this treasure of humanity and preserving it for future generations. The experts nominated by their governments have agreed on a text taking into account the principles set forth in the ICOMOS Charter for the Protection and Management of the Underwater Cultural Heritage and various international conventions of major significance, such as:

- The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

- UNESCO's 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property.

- The Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage was adopted on Friday 2 November 2001 by the 31st General Conference.

The States Parties will collaborate at the international level and take all reasonable measures to put into effect the sound management principles developed by the experts for the purpose of preserving the underwater cultural heritage in the interests of humanity.

* Notes abridged from UNESCO Web site, for more information consult: http://www.unesco.org/