Underwater wreck survey

Support the mission

Fund the work that makes these wrecks safe

Eighty years of corrosion don't pause for funding cycles. Sponsors and foundations put survey assets in the water, keep the monitoring watch running, and carry this story to the audiences who can change how the world handles its sunken legacy.

Where support goes

Four funded workstreams, each with named, inspectable outputs. Every engagement is conducted under the consent of the relevant coastal state — the wrecks, and the remains they hold, are preserved in situ.

The Rabaul deployment

Mobilising the survey suite — ROV systems, imaging, unmanned surface vessel capability — to one of the most concentrated wreck sites in the world.

Platform & Sentry operations

Keeping the assessed inventory current and the continuous monitoring watch — seismic, storm and satellite — running across 40 regions.

Methodology & publications

Advancing the WERP methodology, upgrading environmental data layers to authoritative sources, and publishing the work for scrutiny.

Documentary & storytelling

An award-winning production team leads media capture on mission, building toward a documentary that brings this hidden threat to a global audience.

The mission, in phases

Sponsorship accelerates a programme that is already operating — not a concept waiting for funding.

Phase 1 · Operational today

Intelligence & prioritisation

898 wrecks assessed under the WERP methodology: risk-ranked, evidence-grounded, and exportable as briefs governments can act on.

Phase 2 · The next deployment

In-water validation

The Rabaul Mission: high-resolution sonar, photogrammetry and ROV inspection of priority targets, replacing inference with observation — wreck structures preserved in situ.

Guardian Sentry · Operational today

Continuous monitoring

Seismic, storm and satellite slick monitoring feeding live risk scores — so a deteriorating wreck is noticed before it fails, not after.

Where survey findings justify intervention — for example, the safe extraction of bunker oil from a compromised hull — that work is scoped as a follow-on phase with regional salvage specialists, under the consent of the coastal state and, where appropriate, the flag state.

What success looks like

We hold ourselves to the same standard our platform holds wrecks to: what is delivered is stated as delivered, and what is a goal is stated as a goal.

898

Wrecks assessed to date

40

Regions under continuous watch

20M

Tonnes of oil & fuel at stake globally

The goals your support advances

  • Keep the oil in the hull — or capture it safely — measured wreck by wreck, starting with the Rabaul portfolio.
  • Give every Pacific coastal state a risk-ranked, continuously monitored picture of the wrecks in its waters.
  • Set the precedent: a repeatable, consent-led blueprint for managing hazardous wrecks worldwide.

What sponsors receive

  • Recognition across the mission's reports, platform and media output, at the agreed level.
  • A documentary programme, currently in development, that positions partners inside a genuinely historic story.
  • Direct access to mission briefings and the people doing the work.

Engagement tiers

Indicative shapes — every partnership is scoped individually with a benefits schedule agreed before commitment.

Supporting

Sustaining the watch

  • Partner recognition on the mission site
  • Quarterly mission brief
  • Invitations to mission briefings

Strategic

Funding named capability

  • Named sponsorship of survey targets, equipment or data-layer upgrades
  • Tailored reporting on the funded workstream
  • Early sight of publications and mission findings

Flagship

Partnering the programme

  • Co-branded mission and documentary programmes
  • Advisory participation
  • Joint impact reporting

Sponsorship FAQ

Straight answers to the questions partners ask.

Why sponsor Project Guardian?

Because this is a rare thing: a preventable environmental disaster with a working, operating response that needs scale, not invention.

  • Real outcomes: your support funds survey days in the water, monitoring coverage, and published methodology — all inspectable.
  • A story worth being part of: war graves treated with respect, oceans protected before the spill, governments equipped to act.
  • A precedent: the blueprint built here is designed to be repeated in other waters, by other nations.
Who does this work reach?
  • Coastal-state governments, port authorities and regional environment programmes using the platform directly.
  • Development banks and insurers for whom wreck risk is a material assessment factor.
  • The scientific and maritime-heritage communities, through published methodology and case studies.
  • The public, through the documentary programme in development and mission media.
How will our contribution be used?
  • Phase 1 — Intelligence & prioritisation: assessment coverage, data-layer upgrades, methodology development.
  • Phase 2 — In-water validation: the Rabaul deployment — vessel time, ROV and imaging operations, expedition logistics.
  • Guardian Sentry — Continuous monitoring: keeping the seismic, storm and satellite watch running year-round.

Funds can be directed to a named workstream, and the funded work is reported against it.

What happens after we commit?
We agree a benefits schedule with you — recognition, reporting cadence, and any co-branded activity — and you get a dedicated point of contact on the principal team. Public announcements are made jointly, when you're ready.
How do we get started?
Email project-guardian@deeptrek.net to request the sponsorship prospectus or schedule a briefing.

Be part of making them safe

Request the sponsorship prospectus, propose a focused collaboration, or ask us anything about the mission. Institutional and sovereign audiences: see Engage with us.