THE MRR FLEET HAS BEEN ASSEMBLED: LET THE WORK BEGIN!
Over the last three weeks, the Maritime Research & Recovery team has moved three excavation vessels to Fort Pierce, Florida to prepare for the 1715 shipwreck recovery season. Dan Porter has designed an operational plan that will put all of MRR’s recovery vessels directly in areas of high potential.
The MRR Fleet for the 2019 Treasure Coast season consists of three vessels.
MRR is operating three excavation vessels in the 2019 season. Our primary vessel, the 65’ Sea Reaper, is in place and Captain Josh Fisher-Abt is dedicated to giving 100% this season. The Sea Reaper will be primarily focused on the offshore areas of the Douglas Beach site off of Fort Pierce and the Corrigan’s wreck site on the shores of Vero Beach. There are major targets waiting on both sites and locating them is what the MRR team plans to do.
MRR's excavation vessel, Sea Reaper.
MRR’s second vessel is the 45’ Seatrepid. The Seatrepid was designed by Dan Porter and custom built by the MRR crew in 2017-2018. The Seatrepid has outperformed our expectations, not only in shallow, nearshore waters along the Treasure Coast, but also as a very efficient excavation tool in deeper waters. Dan Porter’s plan for the Seatrepid during this year’s 1715 season is very defined and exacting, and the areas of proposed excavation have been studied and drawn into MRR’s plotting software. As weather permits, the Seatrepid will be conducting excavations in the sandy surf line of the Douglas Beach and Corrigan’s wreck sites.
Seatrepid conducing excavations in the nearshore area of Corrigan’s wreck site.
In the above photo, notice the area of excavation around the vessel. This is the type of excavation that will be conducted repeatedly as MRR methodically works the areas of highest probability. Surrounding areas have produced a great amount of treasure over the last half century, and there are still vast areas of un-excavated seafloor on the Corrigan’s site. Captain Levin Shavers, legendary captain and 1715 Fleet expert John Brandon and Tilly Lowe will team up as the operational team onboard one of the most efficient excavation vessels ever built for this type of shallow water recovery.
Excavation vessel Capitana.
The third vessel that will be operated by MRR this season is the Capitana. The Capitana is the most successful vessel to excavate the nearshore areas of the Corrigan’s site in modern history. In 2013, the Capitana recovered a small bronze cannon and 52 gold coins in one small nearshore area. Again on July 30th-31st, 2015, in another small nearshore area, the vessel Capitana recovered 350 gold coins that were conservatively valued at $3.9 million. Along with these major finds, a constant scatter of treasure and artifacts have been located by the Capitana. The operational team for Capitana will be Dan Porter, Jimmy Parker, Kenton Dickerson and Rob Hill.
We at MRR have built this company for the purpose of executing plans like we have designed for the 2019 Treasure Coast season. Our focus is on execution and steady, methodical excavation. The plan has been designed, the boats are ready the crews are anxiously awaiting the weather forecast that allows us to start the most anticipated season of our lives. Stay tuned for the updates, as they are sure to come.