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The 2001 Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage contributes to combat the extensive pillage, unauthorized and abusive commercial and touristic exploitation and unethical removal of underwater cultural objects. It is a comprehensive instrument, which fully addresses these issues in all waters, whether in landlocked or coastal States. It considerably increases the legal protection of sites in situ and prohibits the illicit trafficking of artefacts. It also calls for the mitigation of industrial impacts.

An emergency threatening underwater heritage can be caused by:

• Treasure hunting (legal commercial exploitation or looting);
• Industrial work (trawling, port works, mineral extraction etc.);
• Lack of knowledge of the cultural importance of sites concerned, on archaeological needs, on conservation, etc.;
• Natural dangers, such as erosion due to climate change;
• Lack of regulations and weak law enforcement.

Emergency Prevention under the 2001 Convention

The 2001 Convention contributes to the prevention of these dangers through its impact on the creation of appropriate normative frameworks protecting heritage. The Secretariat also raises national capacities and promotes international standards. The Convention contains strong and comprehensive obligations on the prevention of exploitation, pillage and traffic (legal and illegal) allowing sanctions and seizure. For instance, States Parties are obligated to take measures to:

• Prevent the entry into their territory, the dealing in, or the possession of, underwater cultural heritage illicitly exported and/or recovered, where salvage was contrary to the Convention;
• Prohibit the use of their territory by treasure hunters;
• Control nationals and vessels and impose sanctions;
• Seize underwater cultural heritage in their territory that has been recovered in a manner not in conformity with the Convention.

Emergency Response under the 2001 Convention

The Convention responds to the need for emergency assistance. The decisive organ provided for this purpose is the Scientific and Technical Advisory Body (STAB) (link to STAB Page), composed of 14 renown experts. The STAB provides advice to the Meeting of States Parties and assists it in technical and scientific matters relating to underwater heritage.

It has also developed a , which now applies to all divers in States Parties or nationals of States Parties. It has also made concrete recommendations on how to review national legislation protecting underwater cultural heritage, recommending, among others, the adoption of clear national rules for the authorization of interventions, the establishment of mandatory cooperation of different institutions, the adoption of guidelines for the establishment of a national inventory, etc.

States Parties which lack underwater archaeologists, but are confronted with problems due to fortuitous discoveries, treasure hunting or scientific doubts, can call upon STAB. Indeed, the STAB assists States with practical advice, but can also come to assess a site or an issue through a mission. Missions are carried out with the approval of the Meeting of States Parties or its Bureau. 

STAB experts are however also readily available to assist as an emergency task force through missions to a State Party in need. In 2015, three STAB missions have been sent to Panama and Madagascar to assist these countries which face problems due to chance discoveries, treasure hunting, or scientific doubts. In 2014 a mission was also sent to Haiti.

Later missions went for instance to Nessebar (Bulgaria, 2017), two to Lake Atitlan (Guatemala, 2018 and 2022 ) and to Rio Paraguay (Paraguay, 2022). 

The safeguarding of submerged archaeological sites needs effective site supervision and often also physical protection.

The safeguarding of submerged archaeological sites needs effective site supervision and often also physical protection.

Sonar buoys: float moored in water to mark a location, they may warn of danger, or indicate a navigational channel transmitting information to a base station on land. They can be installed in the parameters of an underwater archaeological site and may set off an alarm when a boat enters a particular zone. The alarm can also activate a camera or trigger the production of a satellite image transmitting information about the intruder to State authorities.

• Satellite supervision: the movements of ships within protected zones, containing underwater cultural heritage, can be controlled by satellite High resolutions satellite images are taken by various satellites of certain maritime zones and a cartographic map is produced. Position changes of ships are in this way identified and vessels detected that violate the boundaries of protected areas. The data collected may serve also as prove in a court case.

Physical site protection

Sites that are not excavated and remain undisturbed may nevertheless undergo damage due to the impact of oxygen and aggression from organisms and chemicals in the water: infiltration in the pores, corrosion, colonization of algae and erosion are some to the immediate degradation processes of an artefact or of a structure, which can even lead to its total destruction. Once a site is surveyed, assessed and inventoried, it might therefore need protection from intrusion or decay, depending on its significance or fragility.

Such devices are varied and may be chosen according to the characteristics of the site. This protection can take the form of : 

• Re-burial with layers of sand : this means does, however, make a later uncoverage for further research problematic.

• Sand Bags : remains may be covered by sand bags and subsequent layers of sand.

 Fabric covers and nets : Sites may be reburied by a layer of hard-wearing fabric to create a barrier between the objects and the covering element and be stabilized by weights, such as sand bags. This has proven to be a cheap and effective way to protect sites from anchor damage, pillaging and to reach a stable conservation state. If such nets are loosely placed over a site, sediments that are moved over the seabed by tidal currents may continue to penetrate into the holes of the net and settle over the site, covering it within a few weeks, preventing abrasion. 

• Protective Metal Nets: Protective metal nets may be used for the physical preservation of archaeological sites that are seriously threatened by vandalism or when waiting to be covered by more serious means of protection. They can take the form of simple iron nets reinforced or kept in the ground by cement blocks. The nets are after a certain period of time completely covered with marine organisms, impeding access to the underlying part. 

• Cage Protection: Cages, covering vulnerable underwater sites, have proven to be effective not only as physical protection but also as a dissuasive element against pillage. The efficiency and duration of such protection depend heavily on the materials used and their fixation to the ground. They can be placed over a first sand layer. If maintenance and cleaning is ensured, divers can visit such sites looking through the cage or entering it with permission. This allows for cooperation with local diving centres which can obtain the right to visit within the framework of their diving tours in exchange for surveillance of the sites or a certain fee serving its protection. 

Archaeological sites are very fragile and sensitive to intrusion. Even an intervention that opens a site for research purposes “damages” the archaeological information contained therein, as the site is no longer undisturbed. It is therefore important that information contained within the site is carefully recorded.

The 2001 Convention therefore regulates in its Annex, containing the “Rules concerning activities directed at underwater cultural heritage”, that only qualified and properly trained persons should be permitted to intervene on submerged sites.

Article 19.1 of the 2001 Convention

States Parties shall cooperate and assist each other in the protection and management of underwater cultural heritage under this Convention, including, where practicable, collaborating in the investigation, excavation, documentation, conservation, study and presentation of such heritage.

Rules concerning activities directed at underwater cultural heritage (Annex of the 2001 Convention)

Rule 22. Activities directed at underwater cultural heritage shall only be undertaken under the direction and control of, and in the regular presence of, a qualified underwater archaeologist with scientific competence appropriate to the project.

Rule 23. All persons on the project team shall be qualified and have demonstrated competence appropriate to their roles in the project.