Robert Sténuit

At the age of 20, after reading 600 Milliards Sous les Mers by Harry Reiseberg, a work of fiction about shipwrecks and treasure diving, Sténuit left the Free University of Brussels, where he was studying political and diplomatic science in preparation for a career as a lawyer.

[1][9] In 1954, Sténuit began looking for the treasures of the Spanish fleet sunk in 1702 at the Battle of Vigo Bay by English and Dutch warships.

[9][10][11] Together with another underwater treasure hunter, the American John Potter, Sténuit worked for the Atlantic Salvage Company, Ltd. on the specially-equipped vessel Dios Te Guarde for search and recovery of underwater treasure, beginning another search for the wrecks of the 1702 Plate Fleet, which lasted two years.

[7][12] Robert Sténuit worked as a professional diver for the French company SOGETRAM (Société Générale de Travaux Maritimes et Fluviaux).

[2] From 6–10 September 1962, Sténuit participated in Man in Sea, Edwin Link's first experiment with an underwater habitat, which was performed with a submersible decompression chamber (SDC) at Villefranche-sur-Mer on the Mediterranean, at a depth of 200 feet (61 m).

Sténuit and Lindbergh stayed in the SPID habitat (Submersible, Portable, Inflatable Dwelling) for 49 hours underwater at a depth of 432 feet (132 m), breathing a helium-oxygen mixture.

He remained an active seeker of underwater treasures' location and identification, especially in wrecks of ships that belonged to the various East India companies.