Energean discovered the wreck while using a robotic submarine to examine the sea floor for a possible gas field drill site.
The oldest deep-sea ship ever discovered was recovered from the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Israel recently, and is set to go on public display in Israel.
The ship, dating back to the Bronze Age, is estimated to be between 3,300 and 3,400 years old, and was found to be carrying hundreds of intact vessels.
The discovery was made at the incredible depth of 1.8 kilometers (1.125 miles) beneath the surface of the water, on the Mediterranean Sea floor.
The cargo was found during a standard survey executed by Energean – a natural gas company which operates the Karish, Karish North, Katlan and Tanin offshore gas fields off the coast of Israel.
The contents were positively identified by the Israel Antiquities Authority as Late Bronze Age Canaanite storage vessels.
“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,” said Jacob Sharvit, Head of the Israel Antiquities Authority Marine Unit.
“This is both the first and the oldest ship found in the Eastern Mediterranean deep sea, ninety kilometers from the nearest shore. This is a world-class history-changing discovery: This find reveals to us as never before the ancient mariners’ navigational skills – capable of traversing the Mediterranean Sea without a line of sight to any coast.”
“From this geographical point, only the horizon is visible all around. To navigate they probably used the celestial bodies, by taking sightings and angles of the sun and star positions.”
Energean discovered the wreck while using a robotic submarine to examine the sea floor near a possible drill site.
“As part of our ongoing activity to discover and extract natural gas from the deep sea, we conduct surveys that check different parameters, using an advanced submersible robot to scour the seafloor,” says Dr. Karnit Bahartan, from the environmental department of Energean.
“About a year ago, during a survey, we saw the unusual sight of what seemed to be a large pile of jugs heaped on the seafloor. We are in ongoing contact with the Israel Antiquities Authority, and when we sent them the images it turned out to be a sensational discovery, far beyond what we could imagine.”
In light of this discovery’s tremendous importance Energean rose to the occasion and dedicated a team to work together with Israel Antiquities Authority experts to closely investigate the boat, using their “Energean Star” ship equipped to conduct deep-sea work.