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This from the survivor of the Gan Hastings ditching
Posted by Tony on Mon Jul 08, 2002 05:26:33 AM
In reply top Re: Who owns them anyway?? posted by andy saunders on Mon Jul 08, 2002 05:24:01 AM
So we know that the aircraft is there officially. Why is it out of bounds to divers? We are told that there were no fatalities on board the aircraft that night and therefore this wreck cannot be regarded as a war grave, so was some of the cargo sensitive making it out of bounds, especially if diplomatic mail was on board , I have spoken to several diving organisations, that regularly dive this area and without exception no one knows anything about this wreck! Permission can be granted to dive RAF wrecks and also to salvage aircraft at that organisations expense with prior approval from Innsworth, so why the secrecy?
The following is extracted from www.wreckrespect.org.uk regarding The Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 known in its abbreviated form as PMRA:
1> Protected place - this allows any vessel thats exact location is unknown, to be designated by name. In reality this means that, should a vessel be awarded such protection , divers cannot enter or remove any artefacts. It does not ban diving on the vessel.
2> Controlled site - This protects a vessel thats whereabouts are known on recognised charts. Diving on vessels which receive this status can be done with a licence issued by the MoD and dives can be for the purpose of investigation (survey) or recreational.
The above term wreck, applies to military aircraft as well as ships.
I again responded to the RAF Wrecks Officer who has since advised that she has taken advice from the legal department (presumably the RAF) and I quote from this letter
"Even though the aircraft is in international waters it still remains the property of the Crown and as such it is an offence to remove or interfere with it in any way. I have nevertheless spoken to my legal department who confirm that, because the wreck is not a war grave, there would be no objection to a diver entering it as long as no damage is caused. Additionally I have spoken to the Receiver of Wrecks who have asked me to state that it is an offence under Section 236 of the Maritime Shipping Act of 1995 to retrieve anything other than that of a personal nature from any wreckage". I wonder what the act entailed pre 1995? Is not this odd that the above information was not given to me the first time round, as the spokesperson said the wreck was out of bounds to all divers. If I knew this by just accessing a web page or two why cannot a person in charge of that particular department be aware of the law. You just get fobbed off all the time.
http://splashdown2.tripod.com/HandleyPageHastingsTG579/