KOROR, Palau (25 May 2006) -- Rolling Waves Ltd., the owner of the yacht Lionwind, has paid Palau US$40,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the local Attorney General's Office after it was discovered that Lionwind crew members had taken artifacts from some shipwrecks in the Palau lagoon. The Attorney General's Office said after obtaining a search warrant to search the yacht, six artifacts were recovered from the Lionwind by police. The artifacts were reportedly taken from four different Japanese vessels that were sunk in the Palau lagoon during World War II combat. The vessels are the Amatsu, the Choyu, the Ryuku, and the Maru. The Palau Lagoon Monument Act provides that the Japanese vessels sunk in the lagoon and the contents of those vessels are to be preserved. The law sets a maximum fine for the removal of an artifact at US$1,000, so the maximum fine for the six artifacts found on the Lionwind is US$6,000. According to Attorney General Jeffrey Beattie, this made it difficult to obtain the US$40,000 settlement. Beattie said, "The sunken Japanese vessels and artifacts are part of Palau's historical heritage. Divers come to Palau from all over the world to dive these wrecks. Once they are gone, there is no way to replace them. We need to amend the Lagoon Monument Act to provide for stiffer penalties for the removal of these kind of artifacts because a US$1,000 fine is not much of a deterrent." Beattie noted that approximately 66 Japanese vessels were reportedly sunk in Palau during World War II. Separately, the Attorney General's Office filed criminal charges relating to the wreck looting against the captain of the Lionwind, two crewmembers, and a local dive guide. Assistant Attorneys General Erin Johnson and Christopher Hale are prosecuting the criminal cases. [Editor's note: Five divers who were crewmembers on the Lionwind have pleaded not guilty to the 29-count criminal charges filed by government prosecutors ranging from damaging historical site or cultural property, to violation of the Palau Lagoon Monument Act, grand larceny, malicious mischief, possession or removal of government property, conversion of public funds and property, improper removal territorial waters and conspiracy.] SOURCE - Palau Horizon CDNN Related StoryPALAU - Scuba looters charged with stealing artifacts | | Liars and looters Leigh Bishop and Brad Sheard. Following the lead of dive industry-endorsed shipwreck looters Bishop and Sheard, scuba diving thieves around the world are destroying wrecks for bragging rights, coffee table displays and internet auction profits that amount to a fraction of the revenue shipwrecks can generate as fully protected underwater museums. FROM THE EDITORS OF CDNN Despite dive industry 'take pictures, leave only bubbles' green-wash, a small but strident group of scuba diving looters steal artifacts from shipwrecks under the guise of 'archaeological exploration', and aggressively compete for bragging rights, product endorsements and profits from the sales of stolen artifacts that are now on a par with those from smuggling humans and drugs. "We do not care about Leigh Bishop and Brad Sheard's personality problems, their hate-mongering web sites, their chat room shenanigans nor their crude attempts to blackmail responsible, eco-friendly dive companies that support full protection of marine wildlife and shipwrecks," said CDS President Evan T. Allard. "Such unscrupulous conduct is beneath contempt and serves only to substantiate accusations that Bishop and Sheard have committed crimes and will continue to do so unless authorities step in." "The fact is that the vast majority of the global scuba diving community opposes shipwreck looting and underwater grave robbing, and with good reason," Allard added. "For scuba divers, every shipwreck is an underwater museum to be fully protected for our children, our grandchildren and all future generations of divers who will dive deeper and longer thanks to ongoing improvements in diving technology ," Allard said. CYBER DIVER ALERT | If you have information pertaining to the theft and/or sale of wreck artifacts, or desecration of underwater grave sites by Leigh Bishop, Brad Sheard, organized crime gangs or anyone else, please contact CDNN immediately and your information will be passed along to appropriate authorities. REPORT SCUBA LOOTER |
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