World’s Oldest Deep-Sea Shipwreck Discovered 1,800 Meters Beneath The Waves

A Bronze-Age ship that sank around 3,300 years ago has been discovered on the Mediterranean Sea floor, along with its cargo of hundreds of intact jars that once stored merchandise. Located around 90 kilometers (56 miles) off the northern coast of Israel and at a depth of 1,800 meters (6,000 feet), the ancient vessel is the oldest ever found in the deep sea.

Until now, all shipwrecks dated to the Bronze Age – which began a little over 5,000 years ago – had been discovered in shallow waters close to the shoreline. For instance, the world’s oldest known sunken vessel is located just off the coast of the Greek island of Dokos and is thought to have met its end around 4,200 years ago.

As a result, “the academic assumption until now was that trade in that time was executed by safely flitting from port to port, hugging the coastline within eye contact,” explained Jacob Sharvit, Head of the Israel Antiquities Authority Marine Unit, in a statement via email. “The discovery of this boat now changes our entire understanding of ancient mariner abilities: It is the very first to be found at such a great distance with no line of sight to any landmass.”

“To navigate they probably used the celestial bodies, by taking sightings and angles of the Sun and star positions,” he said.

The ship and its cargo were spotted during a routine seafloor survey by a major natural gas exploration and production company. After mapping the site, the firm confirmed that the boat was between 12 and 14 meters (39 to 46 feet) long and was loaded with hundreds of Canaanite amphorae.

“The vessel type identified in the cargo was designed as the most efficient means of transporting relatively cheap and mass-produced products such as oil, wine and other agricultural products such as fruit,” explained Sharvit. The presence of such a sizable booty hints at “significant commercial ties” between whichever country the ship came from and the ancient Levant, he added.

At this stage, little is known about the vessel’s origin or history, although Sharvit says that “the ship seems to have sunk in crisis, either due to a storm or to an attempted piracy attack – a well-known occurrence in the Late Bronze Age.” Fortunately, the boat’s resting place at the bottom of the deep blue has protected it from waves, currents, and divers, all of which impact and damage shipwrecks in shallow waters.

As a result, the ship’s body has remained well preserved for almost three-and-a-half millennia, with its wooden beams safely buried in the sediment on the ocean floor.

“There is tremendous potential here for research,” said Sharvit. “The ship is preserved at such a great depth that time has frozen since the moment of disaster.”