The ICOMOS International Committee on the Underwater Cultural Heritage (ICUCH) was founded in 1991 by ICOMOS Australia. The founding president was Graeme Henderson, Director of the Western Australia Maritime Museum at Fremantle.

The committee is composed of 24 international experts in underwater cultural heritage. The goal of the committee is to assist ICOMOS International and UNESCO in promoting the protection and sound management of submerged cultural resources.

The first mandate of the ICUCH committee was to develop a charter to guide the management and protection of submerged cultural resources. The completed document became known as the ICOMOS Charter (1996). The status of this document was confirmed in 2001 when it was incorporated as Annex to the UNESCO International Convention for the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage. It has thus become the standard guide to the ethics and practices of underwater cultural heritage management throughout the world.

ICUCH members are available to all countries, organizations and individuals interested in the protection and sound management of cultural resources found underwater.

President
Thijs Maarleveld
Professor of Maritime Archaeology
Syddansk Universitet
Denmark
Tel.: 6550 4152
Fax.: 6550 1091
e-mail: t.maarleveld@hist.sdu.dk