Posted by Brendon Baillod on April 22, 19101 at 14:29:29:
In Reply to: DIVING THE HAMILTON AND SCOURGE WRECKS posted by techdiver_75 on April 21, 19101 at 13:21:14:
At 300 ft., these vessels are well within the range of many Great Lakes technical divers. The province of Ontario actively restricts diver access to the wrecks and I am told they will prosecute any divers trying to stage a dive to the site without a permit. However, I have also heard rumors that the site has been visited by scuba divers without permits, triggering closer monitoring of the site than in the past.
The main reason for the active restriction is the large number of historically important artifacts present on the vessels. Few if any of the technical divers qualified to make the dive would even toy with the idea of removing artifacts, but Ontario has taken a very anti-sportdiver stance in recent years and has alienated a large segment of the preservation-oriented dive community. (The non-preservation oriented divers don't really care because they flout the law anyway.)
I doubt the wrecks will ever be opened to tech divers until the present leadership in Ontario's archeology beaurocracy changes. One can try to get a permit to dive the wrecks, but if you don't have recognized academic credentials and the backing of a significant academic organization, you are very unlikely to get a permit.
: HI,DOES ANYONE KNOW IF DIVING IS ALLOWED ON THE HAMILTON OR SCOURGE WRECKS OR IS A PERMIT REQUIRED.
: THANKS,SCOTT