Pascal Kainic

Shipwreck Specialist and member of the Society of French Explorers, I work in the field of historical archives research, as well as shipwreck salvage all over the world.

Since the 1980s, I traveled on several continents and participated in underwater salvage projects with archaeologists and private research companies in France, Spain, Cape Verde Islands, Mauritius, South Africa and Indonesia.

I am the main actor in the survey and salvage of the French packet ship "GENERAL Abbatucci" sank in 1869 off Cape Corse, Corsica, in almost 3000 meters of water, which makes a world record for such a job. The work was done with the collaboration of several companies and institutions in France and in England. The recovery of the cargo included gold and silver coins, gold jewelry, porcelain and various artefacts. An auction was organized by Christie's in London on 7 October 1997 and in 1998 by the Salle Drouot in Paris.

Underwater diver, photographer and amateur archaeologist, I became a specialist in shipwreck archives on old and modern maritime events and built up a unique database related to thousands of shipwreck stories around the world.

In the past few years, I was also involved in shipwreck survey and salvage on the coasts of Indonesia and in close collaboration with the local government.

On the media side, I was invited on various TV shows since 1992 and participated in several documentaries in connection with the sea:

- 2006, with Pamela Stephenson for a documentary on "Salty Sam" called "Murder or Mutiny", as dive coordinator for the research of the ship ROSALIE, shipwrecked on the east coast of Lombok in Indonesia.

- 2007, Original idea and co-director of "Tin Diver" a documentary for Thalassa, about Indonesian divers searching for valuable tin ore on the shores of Bangka island, South Sumatra.

A new film-documentary is being prepared on the loss of the ship Pollux and her treasures, in 1841, off the coast of Italy, and her controversial recovery in 2000. Programming is due in June on Thalassa (FR3) - Film Director: Régis Michel - www.pacificoprod.com

Other documentaries on the same subject are in preparation.

From April 2009, I will be organizing exclusive diving cruises in the Indonesian archipelago, in which I will disclosed secret "treasure" shipwreck locations to our guests...