We are pleased to welcome Alistair Byford-Bates to the growing MSDS team! In this blog Alistair introduces himself and the wealth of experience he brings to MSDS Marine.
Marine archaeology has been a fascination of mine long before I learnt to dive in 1996, with my first archaeology course the following summer doing the Nautical Archaeology Society’s Summer School. Fast forward to 2009, and following 25 years in farming, I received my degree in Archaeological and Forensic Sciences from Bournemouth University, before going back to undertake my Masters by Research with my dissertation on human identification and sharp force trauma.
My roles since have involved a wide range of activities, both onshore and offshore, as part of teams, leading teams, and as an embed archaeologist in projects for other companies. Terrestrial work has varied from Romano-British farm complexes to post-medieval cemeteries, along with building recording and watching briefs on urban sites.
More recently my roles have included tendering for projects for OWF developments, with the aggregate industry for license renewals, new license area applications, cable route mitigation, the preparation of EIA/ES chapters, WSI’s, DBA’s, scoping reports, and archaeological technical reports. I have written the methodologies for the recovery of a wooden shipwreck and aircraft from the Solent, along with survey methodologies and recovery plans for these sites. This also involved liaising with the commercial dive teams employed during the recovery process, finds recording, onboard conservation first aid, and client liaison. I have experience carrying out archaeological ground truthing in the North Sea and Southern England, including as the onboard archaeologist working in Dutch waters off Rotterdam. This involved the selection of targets for the WROV investigation following the subbottom profile survey, adjusting and prioritizing the target list based on the seabed conditions and client constraints to achieve the projects aims, whilst ensuring RCE requirements for the project were achieved.
A significant part of my work during the last five years has been on a UK MOD contract preparing H-DBA and pollution assessments on wrecks dating from 1870 to 1982, with a series of follow up reports looking at additional vessels, the impact of salvage on wrecks within UK waters, and deep-water tanker losses around the world. This work means I have extensive experience in archive research, the design and construction of 19th and 20th Century ships, and the issues around their loss and potential environmental impacts.
I hold a GVC and A2 Certificate of Competence certificates for flying UAV’s and hold my own CAA Operational Authorisation. UAV projects have included LiDAR and photogrammetry surveys for both large scale infrastructure projects, and as part of smaller desk-based assessments, and heritage statements. I am also a tutor for the Nautical Archaeology Society teaching on the survey, excavation, and recovery of aircraft.
