MARINE TREASURES

IS IT JUST A FASCINATING MYTH?

Who from childhood, has never fantasized about majestic sailing ships laden with rich treasures and wrecked by long-ago storms? Or having been ravaged by swashbuckling pirates, still slumber peacefully beneath the waves until the day that they are awakened from their long sleep by those magnificent men with their diving machines come to rouse them from their premature retirement? There are countless archival records of fabulous sunken treasures which have been concealed under the sea for many centuries and are still down there lying 'ready and waiting' for professional teams of marine archaeologists to bring them to the surface.

BILLIONS OF DOLLARS ARE THERE WAITING.

Literally billions of dollars are lying under the sea waiting to be brought to the surface by their 'rescuers'!
This represents a potential profit to the investor far superior to that which can be offered by the vast majority of today's commercial or industrial enterprises or Stock Exchange operations. And given the enchanted places in which many of the wrecks are lying, there is a certain romance involved which comes 'free of charge' and which is indeed the stuff that dreams are made of as an added bonus for the ecologically minded, it is a completely pollution free activity.

Certain American enterprises and powerful international petrol companies, whose systems of underwater survey and detection are similar to those used by marine archaeologists, have announced that far from being a 'pipe dream', this activity will occupy an important place in their business activities during the 21^st century.

THE WORLD'S GREATEST TREASURE LIES UNDER THE SEA.

In accordance with international maritime law and in accordance with UNESCO, the vast majority of the artefacts brought to the surface will invariably be destined to the following ends.

In accordance with the international regulations as designed by UNESCO, a priority of choice is accorded to those countries off whose shores any discovery is made, when the artefacts have a direct link to the cultural heritage of that country.
To the great museums of the world.

To private collections.

And to the general public, through the major auction houses of international repute + via Internet.

For centuries, huge fortunes in trade sailed on the East India Routes controlled by  Holland, Portugal, England and France. Their ships were carrying gold, silver, Chinese porcelain, diamonds and other precious gems, plus spices. Spanish galleons and Chinese junks were also carrying rich cargoes.

It is worthy of mention too, that fabulously extravagant diplomatic gifts from sultans to kings and in exchange, from kings to sultans, were also transported halfway around the world on board the merchant ships.

Reliable estimation by archivists is that nearly 20% of ships never reached their intended destinations. Between the 16^th and the 19^th centuries one fifth of all vessels which ever put to sea sank for one reason or another - or were raided by pirates - who in their turn were almost invariably eventually shipwrecked

Records in the world's archives show that many of these trading vessels finished their journeys either dashed against coral reefs or caught fast on sandbanks.
They were almost always never very far from the coasts towards which they had been driven during high tempests, or because perhaps, a rum-drunk captain's navigational perception had become somewhat hazy

We are dealing with a time well before the invention of radar, reliable sea charts and satellites. Shipping was therefore a much more hazardous affair than it is today.

HOW MANY SHIPWRECKS ARE THERE?

A worldwide network of researchers has access to up-to-date archives throughout the world. Following an in-depth historical, cultural and financial analysis, a selection of 3,000 ships of 'high interest' status for potential exploration has been officially registered.
Certain lost vessels, amongst which can be counted Chinese Junks, Portuguese carracks, Spanish galleons, Pirate ships and the Eastindiamen sailing ships belonging to the various East India companies, are known to have transported inestimable treasures which have an enormous antique and cultural value for the world's greatest museums and for the countries in whose territorial waters the discoveries are made.
The bills of lading of these ships were duly and correctly registered at their ports of departure thus leaving us a tantalizing and precisely accurate record as to the fabulous and hugely rich cargoes which they carried.

ARE THESE SHIPWRECKS EASILY ACCESSIBLE?

In recent years modern underwater detection and diving techniques have become highly sophisticated and precise. If there is something to be found in the selected vicinity it will be. Long gone are the days of simply sending down divers armed with only a metal detector to see if there is something there.
Thanks to highly developed, scientific and computerized detection methods, sunken shipwrecks are much more easily found today. And thanks too, to modern mechanical diving equipment shipwrecks are now accessible at greater depths than was ever previously possible.

OBJECTIVES

With the financial resources furnished by its investors, the SURCOUF Group sets out yet again to discover more ancient shipwrecks and to give to the rendered artefacts their fullest value by using every marketing and sales strategy available (e.g. through printed media, television and internet…).
 

This would then be followed by exhibitions in the world's great museums and by travelling exhibitions to smaller cities which will be held in joint sponsorship with 'high-profile' companies enjoying prestigious brand names.

Ultimately, the vast majority of the treasures will be sold at auction to the general public through the salesrooms of international repute such as Sotheby's and/or Christie's, Bonham’s, Bergé…

This is but a small part of our short-term objective.

Our long-term objective is based on the concessions which we have negotiated to research the territorial waters of specific countries both in the Caribbean Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Java Sea.
It is to discover and to bring to the surface the rich cargoes of the various Chinese junks and East India Companies vessels which were shipwrecked whilst plying the seas on their long and dangerous voyages between East and West.