Chasseur de trésors
Portrait de Luc Heymans
Franck Cuvelier
2009 - 14 min - HDCam - Couleur - France

In February 2004, Luc Heymans dived for the first time to a10th century wreck 58 metres below the surface off the coast of Indonesia. He was about to discover one of the oldest commercial vessels ever found, with 500,000 items of Chinese porcelain on board, forming a dome more than six metres high. 250,000 pieces were in perfect condition. It would take months to excavate this archaeological treasure, which experts have valued at between 60 and 80 million dollars.
Heymans was already a veteran seaman. He was Tabarly's mate in round the world races, and skipper for 20 years in offshore races such as the Trans-Mediterranean, and the Transatlantic. As a ship-owner of fortune, he puts his vessel at the service of licenced treasure hunters, criss-crossing the seas of South-East Asia, learning a craft which has become a passion.