ICOMOS International Committee on Underwater Cultural Heritage

The International Committee on the Underwater Cultural Heritage, ICUCH, is the scientific committee of ICOMOS that advises UNESCO and member states on the protection of submerged sites. Founded in 1991, it helped shape the 2001 Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage and its Annex of practical rules, including the preference for in-situ preservation and the prohibition on commercial exploitation. It sets professional standards for survey, excavation, and conservation of wrecks and submerged landscapes worldwide.