American shipwreck hunter David Mearns first learned of the battle and mutual destruction of "Sydney" and "Kormoran" during a conference in 1996, and started studying the battle in 2001. Mearns focused on primary source documents, which led him to believe that German accounts of the battle's location were truthful, and was able to convince the RAN that a search around that area was feasible. Mearns's organisation entered a partnership with HMAS Sydney Search Pty. Ltd., a not-for-profit company set up to support a search for "Sydney", in late 2004. In mid-September 2004, the German government granted Mearns permission to film "Kormoran" if she were found. On 14 August 2005, the Australian government announced a A$1.3 million grant to the Finding Sydney Foundation (a charitable foundation set up by the directors of HMAS Sydney Search to manage funding), which was followed by A$500,000 from the Western Australian government and A$250,000 from the government of New South Wales. Several small donations were made by companies and the public, but it was not until the Australian government approved another A$2.9 million in October 2007 that the search could proceed. Even so, the money raised only permitted the chartering of the survey vessel SV "Geosounder" for 45 days.