From the Native American tribes and colonial explorers of the Outer Banks to the thousands of shipwrecks that lay just off the coastline, North Carolina’s coast is rich in maritime culture and history. The Maritime Heritage program area includes research and educational products in maritime history, nautical archaeology, anthropology and cultural resources management. 

East Carolina University houses a premiere Maritime Studies program. CSI works with ECU to improve the programs access to the ocean and to help faculty and students access the resources needed to expand the program.

Currently, the UNC Coastal Studies Institute is in the program building stage of the development of the Maritime Heritage program.  For more information on CSI's Maritime Heritage program, please contact Dr. Nathan Richards at richardsn@ecu.edu.

Maritime Heritage Projects

Battle of the Atlantic: Exploring WWII In the Graveyard of the Atlantic
UNC-CSI recently assisted NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, East Carolina University and the Minerals Management Service in a archaeolgical field expedition on the remains of German, British and American vessels sunk during the Battle of the Atlantic in WWII.
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2010 ECU Maritime Studies Field School
In June 2010, UNC-CSI is assisted with ECU's 2010 Maritime Studies Field School.  Students from ECU's Maritime Studies Master Degree Program worked on the Outer Banks for four weeks.  They catalogued shipwrecks of the region while also learning proper archaeological techniques.  The shipwrecks studied during this field school included wrecks that remain submerged, as well as wrecks that have washed up on the beach.   
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