Thieves Who Steal Sunken Warships, Right Down to the Bolts
outsideonline.com
Thieves Who Steal Sunken Warships, Right Down to the Bolts
1–10 of 96 posts
Re: Thieves Who Steal Sunken Warships, Right Down to the Bolts
#2Illegal underwater salvage operations to get pre-1945 steel from sunken warships is so cyberpunk it's almost straight out of Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon.
Re: Thieves Who Steal Sunken Warships, Right Down to the Bolts
#3I am personally with the salvagers. They are making good use of an economic resource for themselves and for others. They are also cleaning the ocean of old debris, not getting lost in some misplaced sense of sentimentality. If the home countries of these vessels want them so bad they should simply salvage them themselves. It's stupid that we have laws that protect stuff that sunk over a few decades ago. If you can't clean it up in 10-20 years, someone else should be entitled to it who can.
Re: Thieves Who Steal Sunken Warships, Right Down to the Bolts
#4It's a really interesting story, but I don't get the general slant. Doesn't it make more sense for us to recover high quality steeel that's sitting there unused instead of carving up yet another mountain and burning tons of coal to make it from scratch?
Re: Thieves Who Steal Sunken Warships, Right Down to the Bolts
#5Illegal underwater salvage operations to get pre-1945 steel from sunken warships is so cyberpunk it's almost straight out of Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon .
Snap! - I thought of this book immediately when I started reading that article. The sheer engineering innovation to salvage those huge quantities of steel is not dissimilar to the ingenuity shown towards the end of the book. Different materials, similar challenges to bring to the surface...
Re: Thieves Who Steal Sunken Warships, Right Down to the Bolts
#6I am personally with the salvagers. They are making good use of an economic resource for themselves and for others. They are also cleaning the ocean of old debris, not getting lost in some misplaced sense of sentimentality. If the home countries of these vessels want them so bad they should simply salvage them themselves. It's stupid that we have laws that protect stuff that sunk over a few decades ago. If you can't…
Most of the ships are final resting places for the crew that went down with them. You don't disturb them for personal economic gain. Just like you don't steal a 100 year old stone from a graveyard.
Re: Thieves Who Steal Sunken Warships, Right Down to the Bolts
#7Illegal underwater salvage operations to get pre-1945 steel from sunken warships is so cyberpunk it's almost straight out of Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon .
It reminds me more of Anathem, where ruins of cities dot the landscape and are consumed by rolling factories when economic conditions dictate.
Re: Thieves Who Steal Sunken Warships, Right Down to the Bolts
#8I am personally with the salvagers. They are making good use of an economic resource for themselves and for others. They are also cleaning the ocean of old debris, not getting lost in some misplaced sense of sentimentality. If the home countries of these vessels want them so bad they should simply salvage them themselves. It's stupid that we have laws that protect stuff that sunk over a few decades ago. If you can't…
I agree. I think it would be best to legalize this sort of salvage operation. It's kind of cool that anyone can make this sort of operation pay. More power to them.
One issue that does deserve some attention is what should be done to any human remains in the wrecks. But if the salvage operations themselves were legal, so the recovery operations didn't have to operate on the sly, it should be possible to get them to obey minimal standards of decency.
The governments that owns the vessels should also get a cut.
Re: Thieves Who Steal Sunken Warships, Right Down to the Bolts
#9I am personally with the salvagers. They are making good use of an economic resource for themselves and for others. They are also cleaning the ocean of old debris, not getting lost in some misplaced sense of sentimentality. If the home countries of these vessels want them so bad they should simply salvage them themselves. It's stupid that we have laws that protect stuff that sunk over a few decades ago. If you can't…
Most of the ships are final resting places for the crew that went down with them. You don't disturb them for personal economic gain. Just like you don't steal a 100 year old stone from a graveyard.
Eh, we loot people's tombs and put their grave goods in museums all the time. It's essentially the entire business model of the field of archaeology.
The only difference is the amount of time that has passed.
Re: Thieves Who Steal Sunken Warships, Right Down to the Bolts
#10"there’s plenty of reason for scavengers to risk it: A single brass steering station can go for $5,000 or more on the internet. The thousands of pounds of bronze used to make a warship’s propeller can earn about $500,000 in the scrap market. Factor in the fact that a single ship might have two or more propellers, and you’re talking about a significant amount of cash."