In August 2008, the federal government announced it would launch up to three missions to find the lost ships, teaming up with Inuit historian Louis Kamookak and the Nunavut government. (CBC)

A private group that had planned to search the Northwest Passage for Sir John Franklin's long-lost ships is now facing the threat of criminal charges from the Nunavut government.

The group, which includes marine archeologist Rob Rondeau from ProCom Diving Services in Alberta, has been preparing to search this month for the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, which disappeared in the High Arctic more than 160 years ago.

Rondeau's team was to launch from the Nunavut hamlet of Taloyoak, using remote-controlled vehicles and other technology to look for the missing ships.

But Julie Ross, an archeologist with the Nunavut government, told CBC News she's upset that Rondeau's team tried to start searching last week, even though it had been denied a territorial archeological permit.

'Disrespectful to Nunavut'

Ross said the private group showed up in Taloyoak sometime last week, and was greeted with a letter from Nunavut's Justice Department, saying it could face charges if it proceeded with the search.

"I think that this behaviour is very disrespectful to Nunavut and Nunavut resources," Ross told CBC News.

"It reflects the sort of attitude that we meet very often: that people from the South can come into the territory and do anything they want, regardless of the Nunavut land claim agreement, and other policies and procedures that the government of Nunavut has developed and put in place."

Ross said Rondeau responded to the Justice Department's letter by saying he was cancelling the search because of bad weather, not because he was breaking the law.

Taloyoak community members contacted by CBC News over the weekend said Rondeau has already left the community.

Reached by email on Sunday night, Rondeau told CBC News that due to a non-disclosure agreement he has with the Discovery Channel, he cannot talk about anything.

Government search on hold

Franklin had set out from England aboard the vessels in 1845, in hopes of exploring and mapping the Northwest Passage. But neither he nor any of his crew ever returned, sparking a mystery that has fascinated historians to this day.

The Canadian government announced in August 2008 that it would sponsor up to three expeditions to seek Franklin's lost ships. The searches would be led by Parks Canada's underwater archeologists, in partnership with the Nunavut government and Inuit historian Louis Kamookak of Gjoa Haven.

Parks Canada's first expedition, which took place over six weeks in August and September 2008, uncovered remnants of copper sheeting that archeologists said might have belonged to Franklin's vessels.

This year's search was called off because a coast guard icebreaker was not available, which prompted Rondeau to publicly invite Parks Canada to join his own search for Franklin's lost ships.

Rondeau has said the British remain interested with the doomed Franklin expedition, adding that locating the remains of the vessels would be big news in both England and in Nunavut.

Lack of Arctic experience cited

Ross said Rondeau's group was denied an archeological permit from the Nunavut government for several reasons.

"The main reasons included inadequate experience, especially in respect to Arctic marine-based archeology, and insufficient community and Inuit consultation," she said.

She added that she had not received complete information from Rondeau's group.

"By quite late in the summer, I still hadn't had a complete application," she said. "I had asked and asked and asked for information and I never received it."

In an email exchange earlier this month with CBC News, Rondeau said he did not need a permit because he was planning to conduct a hydrographic survey.