About Us
About Maritime Observatory
The MO represents a turning point in the protection of underwater heritage sites, through a partnership between two charitable and not-for-profit organisations. The Maritime Archaeology Sea Trust, MAST, is a champion for underwater maritime heritage and advocacy; and OceanMind, is an award-winning expert in satellite-based surveillance and maritime domain awareness. The partnership represents a novel, holistic approach to the deterrence of illegal activity at sea to combine both monitoring and detection of illegal fishing activities and the looting of known shipwreck sites.
About the Information and Heritage Inspectorate
The Information and Heritage Inspectorate ensures compliance with the law and promotes improvements to the management and care of cultural heritage. When necessary, the Inspectorate takes action in the event of incidents and calamities. The Inspectorate is an independent body which reports its findings objectively. It also advises the Minister of Culture on the quality and effectiveness of the legislation.
About the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands
The Cultural Heritage Agency is the Netherlands’ centre of expertise for heritage. Heritage care is a public interest, for which the government also takes responsibility. The Cultural Heritage Agency is an executive body of the Ministry for Education, Culture and Science. Its tasks go beyond merely preserving and protecting buildings, archaeological sites and works of art. Today, society devotes increasing attention to how cultural historical values can be given a place within spatial development plans and projects. Doing so ensures that we can give the future a recognisable past.
About MAST
MAST is a registered UK charity, founded in 2011 by maritime archaeologist and author Jessica Berry, to address the gulf in the way our maritime underwater cultural heritage (UCH) is protected in contrast to terrestrial archaeology. It is considered to be the foremost maritime archaeological organisation in the UK, providing full-cycle maritime archaeological capability, from discovery, excavation and conservation to the museum door. MAST exists to fill a long standing void in our understanding of our nation's rich maritime heritage, to ensure that there is a sustainable future for such sites, through archaeology, research, study, dissemination and education. MAST maintains a privileged position as a member accredited to the governing bodies of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage.
About OceanMind
OceanMind is an award-winning not-for-profit UK-based organisation that until now has focused purely on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing. It is an impact-oriented company that empowers enforcement and compliance to protect the world’s fisheries. It provides insights and intelligence into fishing compliance to those who can most effectively use it. It supports government authorities and seafood buyers by providing expertise and knowledge allied with advanced technologies to enable responsible sourcing and effective enforcement. Effective enforcement drives deterrence and increased compliance. This combined with the power of the market choosing provably responsible sources, drives sustainability.
Press releases
Satellites protect wreck sites from looting
Press release: Embargoed to 4 November 2022 0900 hours Dutch Inspectorate and Cultural Heritage Agency award contract to the Maritime... read more
04.11.2022 • By Maritime Observatory and Dutch Inspectorate and Cultural Heritage Agency
