Reported in the press this week was the discovery of two missing vessels that could unlock one of  history’s biggest maritime mysteries.  One of the two British explorer ships that vanished in the Arctic whilst searching for the fabled Northwest Passage has been found almost 170 years later.

The HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror disappeared in the 1840s and one of the wrecks has been discovered by a Canadian search team that has been searching for the vessels since 2008.  At this point it is not clear which vessel has been found.  It is believed that the vessels were lost after they became locked in ice near King William Island.

There is now a dispute over who actually owns the passage where the vessel has been discovered.  Canada believes that the body of water belongs to them, but others say that it is international territory.

Whoever takes ultimate credit for the discovery of and ownership of this wreck, it is still an amazing discovery so many years after such a terrible loss.