1998 NORQEB Expedition
Preparations for this field trip have been considerably more complicated than for previous expeditions. There have been about twice as many people to mobilise and twice as much gear to get ready. Thanks to sponsorship arranged by the Pandora Foundation we are now the best funded we have ever been and are able to put together the largest team for our eighth expedition, the 1998 NORQEB Pandora Expedition.
Over the coming 45 days, 44 people will be working on the wreck from two vessels. One of these is our old favourite, Pacific Conquest, veteran of four previous expeditions. The other is a Port Douglas-based dive charter vessel, the Undersea Explorer, which will be joining us at the Pandora site three weeks into the season.
Logistics have included erecting a demountable deck onto the Pacific Conquest, getting onboard the heavy diving plant, liquid oxygen plant, stores and provisions, and flying in team members from around Australia and overseas.
The Maritime Archaeology section's Peter Illidge ("Pillage") has done a fantastic job coordinating welders from Townsville-based Pacific Coast Engineering in erecting the demountable deck. Helped by team members John Read, Howard Smith, Freya Bruce, Per Akesson, Kevin Hubbard and the Pacific Conquest crew, Pillage managed to finish most of the jobs before the rest of the expedition members arrived in Townsville on 9 January.
There have been several delays to the loading schedule due to the extreme weather conditions Townsville has been experiencing. In fact, Saturday 10 January proved to be the worst weather on record, with more than 600 mm of rain during the night, causing Townsville to be declared a disaster area.
The heavy rainfall also washed out the planned send off. So, instead of the scheduled quayside farewell, several NORQEB executives and managers bid us bon voyage at a low-key reception indoors at the Museum of Tropical Queensland on Monday 12 January.
Read the Project Leader's chronicle
View PDF of Project Leader's chronicle (PDF - 1.3 Mb)
Peter Gesner, Queensland Museum Maritime Archaeologist and Pandora Project Leader, has chronicled the 1998 NORQEB Expedition.