Georgia man pushes for law protecting sunken WWII ships

DARIEN - A Georgia man is pushing for a law to protect 165 sunken World War Two cargo ships that have become targets for artifact hunters, who are taking the ships&#39; bells, porthole covers and other keepsakes. <br> <br> Michael Higgins, a former merchant mariner from McIntosh County, said the sunken Liberty ships and tankers off the Georgia and Florida coasts are fair game to deep-water divers. <br> <br> Higgins said, ``They&#39;re treated like a huge playground -- toy stores where divers can pick up some nice artifacts.&#39;&#39; Higgins retired from the merchant marines because of a back injury. <br> <br> About 660 of the merchant ships sunk in World War Two have protection because they came under the control of the federal War Shipping Administration. But 165 cargo ships were sunk by enemy fire prior to April 30th 1942 -- before vessels were acquired by the administration and deemed public vessels. <br> <br> Among those ships not protected are the tanker Gulfamerica, sunk off Jacksonville, Florida April 10, 1942; the Esparta, sunk off St. Marys April 9, 1942, and the Cities Service Empire, torpedoed off Cape Canaveral, Florida February 22, 1942. <br> <br> Higgins said he would like to see some of the artifacts preserved in the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Museum in Kings Point, New York, so cadets can learn about the merchant seamen during World War Two. But for now, he simply wants the scavenging to stop.