International Maritime Archaeological & Shipwreck Society

IMASS was first established in 1982 as the South West section of the Nautical Archaeological Society. Due to the success of the local organisation and its Shipwreck Conference, it was decided to form IMASS to cater for a more diverse membership and conference delegates many of whom come from across the UK and overseas.

IMASS promote the interest of all sections of society who have a shared interest in Shipwrecks, especially those of the amateur diver and non academic researchers and historians who undertake the majority of the work on the UK’s Protected Wrecks and the research on our maritime heritage.

Yearly membership of IMASS is included free with attendance to the conference, unless you specifically request not to be included on the membership list.

We aim to provide the conference at the lowest cost. To keep prices down :

• We do not pay the speakers
• We can only pay local expenses so international speakers pay for their own flights
• The conference organisers do not get paid
• We do not produce expensive conference packs or advertising, all the money goes into the conference itself
• Each year the conference is expanded to include new features and it gets bigger each year

The International Shipwreck Conference is run by wreck enthusiasts for enthusiasts. Our aim is to provide a meeting place for divers, explorers, archaeologists and salvors as well as government and commercial organisations. The organisers are all divers with interests in maritime archaeology and history and the varied nature of the speakers reflects this. A conference can include a world renowned archaeologist alongside a treasure hunter, followed by a diver working on a local project.

This conference provides high quality speakers for considerably less cost than other conferences and is not just for academics. This is the only regular conference of its kind in the UK and one of the few in the world where archaeologists and salvors can meet.