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 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 overdue 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 and dissemination. The team combines high-level strategic management with experience unrivalled in the heritage sector in investigating and analysing threats to historic and designated wrecks within the UK Territorial Sea and the wider UK Maritime Area . MAST led the ongoing investigation into the exploitation of UK historic wrecks by commercial treasure hunters and salvors including the attacks on designated World War One wrecks and wrecks defined under the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage 2001. We have joined forces with OceanMind, a not-for-profit organisation which specialises in monitoring of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing for governments and the private sector, to harness the growing capabilities of the space sector. Together we have launched the Maritime Observatory to protect global UCH. 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. Many such sites contain human remains and can also pose a danger to life and the ocean environment due to the presence of oil and/or unstable ordnance.
