Done from a foreign flagged support vessel

http://gcaptain.com/james-cameron-completes-record/?43052

Well, he isn’t a US citizen, is he?

Sub was designed and built in Australia I believe, and Cameron is Canadian.

It does not matter if is he is a citizen or not. There was no cargo being delivered so no reason for this to fall under Jones act. Plus isn’t this trench in international waters any way?

If it was Liberian, then C. Captain could have been onboard. . . . . .

Nat Geo, headquartered in Washington DC, gets US Government grant money.

[QUOTE=Jeffrox;65923]Nat Geo, headquartered in Washington DC, gets US Government grant money.[/QUOTE]

So does MarAd and the DoD, that doesn’t stop them from using FoC ships and crews while RRF ships and crews sit and rust.

Besides, what business is it of ours who uses what ship for non-commerical, non-governmental purposes half a world away. This project has nothing to do with America or American trade or the USMM.

If it was Liberian, then C. Captain could have been onboard. . . . . .

HA! I once did command the vessel chartered to support an expedition to find Amelia Earhart and that was US flagged. A very interesting job but a complete heartbreak when we had to return empty handed. That sucked but I’d love to do more expeditions in the future.

btw, Nat Geo was aboard but was not funding the voyage. It was privately funded by a young billionaire.

If you are talking about Ted Waitt, we ran another, larger, and equally fruitless search in 2009.

If you are talking about Ted Waitt, we ran another, larger, and equally fruitless search in 2009.

Yup, I know. He spent about $5M on this first try with us and I have heard over $20M when you guys went. I wonder if he has the stomach for a third attempt? Definitely a pursuit not for the man without very deep pockets or without a very strong desire to keep going! Did you have Elgen Long with you out there? A consumate gentleman and a wonderful shipmate.

One thing that I learned was finding that plane 6000m down is going to be extrtemely hard. It really is just a pinspeck at such a depth!

[QUOTE=c.captain;65949]HA! I once did command the vessel chartered to support an expedition to find Amelia Earhart and that was US flagged. A very interesting job but a complete heartbreak when we had to return empty handed. That sucked but I’d love to do more expeditions in the future.

btw, Nat Geo was aboard but was not funding the voyage. It was privately funded by a young billionaire.[/QUOTE]

I spent a few months as the engineer on an expedition for a sunken galleon in the Bahamas a couple of decades back. The investors had no patience and we ended up with nothing after 6 months when they pulled the plug. Good thing that I got cash money for what I was doing. The boat was US flagged, though. Lovely way to spend the back side of my month on/month off day job schedule.

[QUOTE=c.captain;65955]Yup, I know. He spent about $5M on this first try with us and I have heard over $20M when you guys went. I wonder if he has the stomach for a third attempt? Definitely a pursuit not for the man without very deep pockets or without a very strong desire to keep going! Did you have Elgen Long with you out there? A consumate gentleman and a wonderful shipmate.

One thing that I learned was finding that plane 6000m down is going to be extrtemely hard. It really is just a pinspeck at such a depth![/QUOTE]

I didn’t get to meet Elgen Long, he worked with the flight reconstruction team shoreside.
If you hadn’t seen it, here’s a link to the website of the 2009 expedition.
http://searchforamelia.org/
If you click on the “Search” tab it shows a chart with overlays of the 2006 and 2009 data.

As far as finding pieces of a 70 year old Electra in 6000m water, I explained it like this;
"Hey will you help me look for my car keys? I lost 'em. “Sure! Where’d you lose them?”, “Ummmmm… Somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, between Canada and Mexico.”