Milwaukee - The 9th annual Ghost Ships Festival will be held Friday, March 7, 3:00 - 8:30 p.m. and Saturday, March 8, 8:30 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. at the Wyndham Milwaukee Airport & Convention Center, across from the Milwaukee airport in Wisconsin (formerly the Four Points Sheraton). Advance tickets are $20 and day-of tickets are $25. To purchase a ticket or for more information, visit ghostships.org or send an email to [email protected]. Those interested in hotel accommodations can contact the Sheraton at (414) 481-8000 and ask for the Ghost Ships room discount.

This year's festival will feature Ralph Wilbanks from the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA). Wilbanks, who is part of Clive Cussler 's search team, will share his experience locating the Confederate submarine CSS Hunley at the Ghost Ships Festival on Friday, March 7.

Hunley, a submersible known as the "South's secret weapon," was the first sub to sink a ship in battle, the Union blockader USS Housatonic. The fate of Hunley and her nine young volunteer crewmen remained a mystery for more than 131 years. Novelist and adventurer Clive Cussler and divers from NUMA searched for the elusive Hunley for more than 15 years. Cussler's team, which included Wilbanks, finally found the sub in 1995 buried under three feet of silt four miles outside Charleston, S.C. The sub was raised in 2000 and is housed at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in Charleston.

Additional speakers are being added to the Ghost Ships Festival. An updated speaker schedule will be posted in the coming weeks at ghostships.org.

_Ghost Ships Festival Background
The Ghost Ships Festival brings together top Great Lakes maritime historians, authors and divers from throughout the country. It's an opportunity for the public to learn more about the maritime history of the world's largest inland lakes and see the wrecks that now lay below the surface. The festival includes films, workshops and seminars devoted to shipwrecks, diving and maritime history.

The Ghost Ships Festival is hosted by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Research Foundation, Inc. (GLSRF, Inc.). GLSRF, Inc. is a non-profit group dedicated to creating public awareness of the Great Lakes maritime heritage and promoting conservation, study and responsible enjoyment of historic Great Lakes shipwrecks by divers and non-divers. Proceeds from the Ghost Ships Festival support GLSRF, Inc. and the GLSRF, Inc. grant program._