BALTIMORE, Nov. 17 -- NAUTICOS, an ocean exploration and engineering company, intends to find the lost clipper ship, Pride of Baltimore I.

David Jourdan, President of NAUTICOS, announced plans to search for Baltimore's original ambassador ship that was tragically lost at sea in May of 1986. A replica Clipper ship built in 1977, Pride of Baltimore I capsized and sank while en route from St. Johns, Virgin Islands to Baltimore, Maryland after completing a goodwill tour in Europe. ``It seems appropriate that a Maryland firm with the technological expertise and desire find this missing piece of Baltimore's sailing heritage and possibly return it to Maryland,'' said Jourdan during the Marine Technology Society's Ocean Communities Conference '98 being held at the Baltimore Convention Center.

Estimated to be at a depth of 18,000 ft. in the Atlantic ocean, Pride of Baltimore I went down during a storm described as a ``white squall'' with the loss of its captain and three of the twelve person crew. The surviving eight crew members drifted in a small life raft for over four days before being rescued. A memorial honoring the crew and ship was erected in Baltimore's Inner Harbor and in 1988 a second Pride of Baltimore was launched.

NAUTICOS has conducted preliminary research using a proprietary technology called RENAV™. This process significantly narrows target search areas by modeling available navigation, environmental, and anecdotal data to reconstruct the position of the ship during its last hours. The timetable for the expedition will be announced after the analysis phase is completed. The NAUTICOS Ships Point Division in Solomons Island, Md., offers a unique waterfront facility for the possible restoration of Pride of Baltimore I.

As the end of the ``Year of the Oceans'' nears, NAUTICOS raises the possibility of recovering and restoring Pride of Baltimore I in time to join a fleet of Tall Ships from around the world as they sail up Chesapeake Bay as part of OpSail 2000. ``Imagine, the original Pride of Baltimore at the head of that fleet, completing a journey started 14 years before,'' said Tom Dettweiler, Vice President and Operations Director of NAUTICOS. It was OpSail 1986 that Pride of Baltimore I was scheduled to participate when its voyage abruptly ended.

NAUTICOS most recently coordinated elements of the TITANIC 98 Expedition for Discovery Communications Inc., which successfully aired a ``live'' broadcast from the 12,500 feet depth of the wrecksite.