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Northern Ireland has been subject to significant maritime influences throughout its known 9,000-year human history. In 1997, the University of Ulster, in partnership with the Environment and Heritage Service, embarked on a program of seabed mapping in an attempt to record the submerged and buried archaeological resources. To date, the geophysical research program has imaged about 80 19th- and 20th-century wrecks and about 100 targets of further 'archaeological potential.' One method of integrating the results of geophysical surveys into the Maritime Sites and Monuments Record (SMR) is the use of the classification scheme CEBESSt, an alphanumeric wreck-site classification scheme based upon six site-specific variables: Composition of hull, Energy of wreck environment, Burial, Exposure, Structural integrity, and Substrate type, with t corresponding to time (the year of wrecking, if known). The classification is designed for use within a database scheme that allows for interrogation through character recognition and pattern matching.

Recent marine survey programs have generated a GIS (geographic information system) distribution of historic wreck sites around the coast of Northern Ireland. These data lead to an understanding of the nature and extent of submerged cultural resources and provide statistical information on the spatial and temporal distribution of historic wrecks, allowing for the reconstruction of past maritime activity. This is important baseline data used for the production of integrated research and management plans for the protection of the resources.

In January 2001, a team of researchers from the University of Ulster (Northern Ireland) conducted an innovative maritime archaeology project on the East African coast in partnership with the British [...]