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While producing a documentary about a mussel species in the Great Lakes, two filmmakers discovered a shipwreck that went missing 128 years ago.

Yvonne Drebert and Zach Melnick were in the process of filming the invasive quagga mussel in Lake Huron when they stumbled upon the Africa, a steamship that went missing in October 1895 while carrying coal from Ohio to Ontario, Fox Weather reported.

The Africa vanished after one night “on the turbulent and wind-whipped waters of Lake Huron,” the news site continued. 

Drebert and Melnick also found themselves in the midst of turbulent weather while searching for the invasive species of mussels.

“Just like when the Africa went down in 1895 early season storms, it was getting rough,” Drebert shared with Fox Weather.

“When we went out to check it out, it was supposed to be nice and calm, but of course, the wind kept coming up. We actually brought some friends with us,” she added.  5 The Giant Africa shipwreck that went missing in 1895 is seen. Inspired Planet Productions

“We thought we were just going to see a pile of rocks, so why not? But it got pretty rough, and they were feeling a little seasick. So we had to call it a day.”

After Drebert and Melnick’s underwater drone detected something rather large, the pair and their team sent a robotic camera down to get a better look.

The camera captured images of the mussels they had been documenting. But when they saw a shadow come into frame, it left them amazed. 5 The Africa vanished after one night “on the turbulent and wind-whipped waters of Lake Huron.” Inspired Planet Productions

“It got more and more definition as we got closer and closer, and all of a sudden, we could see, ‘Wow! This is a steamship, a wooden steamship,’” Melnik told Fox Weather.

 “So this is old, and it is incredibly well intact.”

The invasive mussels that brought the two filmmakers out to Lake Huron seem to have discovered the buried treasure before they had. 5 The steamship is covered with mussels which helps with wreck identification, butthe invasive specieswill eventually destroy the ship.Inspired Planet Productions

“The quaggas are the reason we’re able to see the shipwreck in almost 300 feet of water without any additional lights,” Melnick continued.

The steamship is covered with mussels which helps with wreck identification, but the invasive species will eventually destroy the ship.

The filmmakers were able to identify the vessel as the Africa due to the size of the ship and the coal found around the wreck. 5 The filmmakers were able to identify the vessel as the Africa due to the size of the ship and the coal found around the wreck. Inspired Planet Productions

Discovery of the shipwreck brought excitement to the film team, but it also brought a sense of closure to the families of the crew who went missing in the shipwreck.

“One of the incredible things that’s happened since this story has come to light just a couple of weeks ago is that several of the descendants of family members who died on this wreck so many years ago have reached out to us,” Melnick shared.

He went on, “And we’re working with those families to try to find a way to remember those sailors who had died 128 years ago. 5 The Africa was carrying coal when after one night “on the turbulent and wind-whipped waters of Lake Huron,” the ship vanished. Inspired Planet Productions

The Center of Invasive Species Research in Riverside, California, reports that quagga [and zebra mussels] invasions “have had catastrophic impacts in the ecosystems in which they have established.”

“These organisms clog water intake structures (e.g., pipes and screens), which greatly increases maintenance costs for water treatment and power plants,” the organization adds on its website. 

“Recreational activities on lakes and rivers are adversely affected as mussels accumulate on docks, buoys, boat hulls, anchors and beaches can become heavily encrusted.”

“Interestingly, invasions by quagga and zebra mussels have been documented as having some positive affects on receiving ecosystems. For example, filtration of water by mussels as they extract food removes particulate matter. This filtration has improved water clarity, and reduced the eutrophication of polluted lakes.”

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Under Trump, Uncle Sam is becoming an active investor at a scale not seen outside war or major crises

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Under Trump, Uncle Sam is becoming an active investor at a scale not seen outside war or major crises

MP Materials CEO on deal with the Defense Department

The Trump administration has taken direct stakes in companies on a scale rarely seen in the U.S. outside wartime or economic crisis, pushing a Republican Party that traditionally championed free-market capitalism to embrace state intervention in industries viewed as important for national security.

Japan’s Nippon Steel agreed to give President Donald Trump a “golden share” in U.S. Steel as a condition for the two companies’ controversial merger. Trump now personally wields sweeping veto power over major business decisions made by the nation’s third-largest steel producer.

“You know who has the golden share? I do,” Trump said at a summit on artificial intelligence and energy in Pittsburgh on July 15.

The president’s golden share in U.S. Steel is similar to nationalizing a company but without any of the benefits that a company normally receives, such as direct investment by the government, said Sarah Bauerle Danzman, an expert on foreign investment and national security at the Atlantic Council, a think tank focused on international affairs.

But the Trump administration demonstrated earlier this month that it is also willing to buy directly into publicly traded corporations. The Department of Defense agreed to purchase a $400 million equity stake in rare-earth miner MP Materials, making the Pentagon the company’s largest shareholder.

This level of support by the federal government for a mining company is unprecedented, said Gracelin Baskaran, an expert on critical minerals at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“This is the biggest public-private cooperation that the mining industry has ever had here in the United States,” Baskaran said. “Historically, DOD has never done equity in a mining company or a mining project.”

Trump’s unique hold over the Republican Party gives him the ability to intervene in companies on a scale that would be difficult politically for a Democratic president, Danzman said.

“The Democrat would have been accused of being a communist and a lot of other Republicans probably would not have felt comfortable moving in this particular direction because of their greater commitment to market principles,” Danzman said. Trump is expanding the range of what is possible in the U.S. in terms of state intervention in markets, she said.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

More state investments likely

More interventions could be on the horizon as the Trump administration develops a policy to support U.S. companies in strategic industries against state-backed competition from China.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in April that the U.S. government might need to make an “equity investment in each of these companies that’s taking on China in critical minerals.” The Pentagon’s investment in MP Materials is a model for future public-private partnerships, CEO James Litinsky said.

Sen. Dave McCormick on Nippon-U.S. Steel deal: A win-win situation for both sides

“It’s a new way forward to accelerate free markets, to get the supply chain on shore that we want,” Litinsky told CNBC. The U.S. government is helping the mining industry fight “Chinese mercantilism,” the CEO said.

Meanwhile, the golden share in U.S. Steel is a potential model for foreign direct investment “transactions that really affect our national security but where it’s going to be great for our economic growth,” Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., said in a May interview with CNBC.

“Having taken a stake in US Steel and MP, we’re now left to wonder where this administration will find its next investment,” Don Bilson, an analyst at Gordon Haskett, wrote in a note to clients earlier this month.

Trump proposed in January that the U.S. should take a 50% stake in social media app TikTok as part of a joint venture. China’s ByteDance is required under a recently passed law to divest TikTok or the platform will be banned in the U.S. Trump extended ByteDance’s compliance deadline until Sept. 17.

Past precedent

China looms large

The U.S. is not fighting an economic crisis or war today, but the return of great power competition with Russia and China and the supply chain disruptions of the Covid-19 pandemic have led to more nationalistic economic policies, said UNC’s Wilson.

The U.S. has increasingly recognized that China’s economic model is based on manufacturing overcapacity that dumps products “onto global markets in ways that make it hard for other markets to compete,” Danzman said.

The threat posed by China’s dominance of the rare-earth supply chain became apparent in April when Beijing imposed export restrictions against the U.S., Baskaran said. Within weeks, automakers warned they would have to halt production due to a rare-earth shortage, forcing the U.S. back to the negotiating table with Beijing, she said.

“The historical moment we’re in does seem to be one where there is this reassessment of assumptions of the previous generation about the efficacy of markets and free trade to solve all our problems in national security,” Wilson said.

The question is whether state intervention can solve the failure of the free market to address national security concerns in industries like rare earths, Danzman said.

“When you step in to try to address one of these market failures with this kind of government intervention, you can have a cascade of new market failures,” she said. “You’re distorting the market more.”

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Tyler Winklevoss claims JPMorgan blocked Gemini over public criticism

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Tyler Winklevoss claims JPMorgan blocked Gemini over public criticism

Tyler Winklevoss claims JPMorgan blocked Gemini over public criticism

Tyler Winklevoss claims JPMorgan paused Gemini’s onboarding after he criticized the bank’s data access fees, calling the move anti-competitive.

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Business

Bread producers Hovis and Kingsmill close in on historic merger

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Bread producers Hovis and Kingsmill close in on historic merger

The owners of Hovis and Kingsmill are closing in on a definitive agreement to merge two of Britain’s most famous grocery brands following months of talks.

Sky News has learnt Associated British Foods (ABF), the London-listed company which owns Kingsmill’s immediate parent, Allied Bakeries, has proposed paying roughly £75m to acquire Hovis from its long-term private equity backers.

Banking sources said a deal could be formally agreed to combine the businesses as early as the end of next week, although they cautioned the complexity of the transaction meant the timing could yet slip.

Confirmation of a tie-up would come nearly three months after Sky News revealed ABF and Endless – Hovis’s owner since 2020 – were in discussions.

Industry sources have estimated that a combined group could benefit from up to £50m of annual cost savings from a merger.

ABF has also been exploring options for the future of Allied Bakeries separate from its talks with Hovis in the event a deal could not be agreed or is prevented from completing by competition regulators.

If it does go ahead, the merger will unite two historic bread producers under common ownership, with Allied Bakeries having been founded in 1935 by Willard Garfield Weston, part of the family which continues to control ABF.

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Hovis traces its history back even further, having been created in 1890 when Herbert Grime scooped a £25 prize for coming up with the name Hovis, which was derived from the Latin ‘Hominis Vis’ – meaning “strength of man”.

Persistent inflation, competition from speciality bread producers and shifting consumer habits towards lower-carb diets have combined to impair breadmakers’ financial health in recent decades, however.

In accounts filed at Companies House earlier this month, Hovis said it had “achieved positive financial progress despite continued tough trading conditions”.

The company reported sales of £439.6m in the 52 weeks to 28 September last year, down from £477.6m in the 53 weeks to 30 September 2023.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell from £20.9m to £18.7m, which Hovis said was the result of the revenue decline and higher distribution costs.

“Overall bread share remained stable, despite significant price inflation and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, demonstrating the resilience of the Hovis brand and its iconic status as one of Britain’s most loved food brands,” the accounts said.

This week, the trade publication The Grocer reported that Britain’s big four supermarkets, including Asda and Sainsbury’s, had delisted a number of Hovis-branded products.

The publication quoted a Hovis spokeswoman as saying the company was “aware of some adjustments to Hovis product lines in certain stores”.

“We remain fully committed to working collaboratively with our retail partners to grow our mutual businesses.”

The overall UK bakery market is estimated to be worth about £5bn in annual sales, with the equivalent of 11m loaves being sold each day.

Critical to the prospects of a merger of Allied Bakeries, which also owns the Sunblest and Allinson’s bread brands, and Hovis taking place will be the view of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) at a time when economic regulators are under intense pressure from the government to support growth.

Warburtons, the family-owned business which is the largest bakery group in Britain, is estimated to have a 34% share of the branded wrapped sliced bread sector, with Hovis on 24% and Allied on 17%, according to industry insiders.

A merger of Hovis and Kingsmill would give the combined group the largest share of that segment of the market, although one source said Warburtons’ overall turnover would remain higher because of the breadth of its product range.

Responding to Sky News’ report in May of the talks, ABF said: “Allied Bakeries continues to face a very challenging market.

“We are evaluating strategic options for Allied Bakeries against this backdrop and we remain committed to increasing long-term shareholder value.”

In a separate presentation to analysts, ABF – which is also in the process of closing its Vivergo bioethanol plant in Hull after pleading for government support – described the losses at Allied, which also owns own-label bread manufacturer Speedibake, as unsustainable.

The company does not disclose details of Allied Bakeries’ financial performance.

Prior to its ownership by Endless, Hovis was owned by Mr Kipling-maker Premier Foods and the Gores family.

At the time of the most recent takeover, High Wycombe-based Hovis employed about 2,700 people and operated eight bakery sites, as well as its own flour mill.

Hovis’s current chief executive, Jon Jenkins, is a former boss of Allied Milling and Baking.

This weekend, ABF declined to comment, while Endless could not be reached for comment.

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