Under the version of the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act then in effect, it was up to the MOE to designate who would carry out the excavation of antiquities. These designees were to be governmental bodies involved with the preservation of antiquities, or academic groups. This left the MOE unable to authorize Huang to raise items from the vessel himself.
當時的《文資法》規定，古物的採掘，需由教育部指定「公立」古物保管機構或學術單位為之；因此，教育部不能直接委託黃加進個人打撈沉船古物。