SHIPWRECKS sometimes hold an enormous bounty of gold and historical artefacts. Early next year a robotic submarine will excavate the wreck of HMS Sussex, which sank off Gibraltar in 1694 (Â鶹´«Ã½, 19 July, p 10). The ship carried gold coins that today could be worth £4 billion. I asked Bill Rammell, the Foreign Office minister responsible for maritime matters, when we can expect the UK to join with other countries and ban the commercial exploitation of historic shipwrecks.
Rammell replied that the government intends to monitor the archaeological techniques that the salvage company uses when it excavates the…
