Image: The mission has retrieved some of the deepest objects ever recovered from a wreck in France, Thibaud MORITZ
By Viken Kantarci
Deep below the surface of the Mediterranean off the French coast, the pincer of a remotely guided underwater robot delicately closes around a centuries-old jug lying near a 16th-century shipwreck.
“You have to be extremely precise so as not to damage the site, so as not to stir up sediment,” says Navy officer Sebastien, who cannot give his second name for security reasons.
A two-hour journey from the French Riviera, Sebastien is overseeing the first of several archaeological missions on the deepest shipwreck in French territorial waters.
A routine army survey of the seabed uncovered the 16th-century merchant ship by chance last year in waters off the coast of Ramatuelle, close to Saint-Tropez.
Archaeologists believe the ship was sailing from northern Italy, loaded with ceramics and metal bars, before it sank.
Now the French navy and the culture ministry’s underwater archaeology department are back to inspect the surviving artefacts lost more than 2,500 metres (1.5 miles) below sea level.
Read the full article on CBS 19 News:
https://www.cbs19news.com/diving-robot-explores-mystery-of-frances-deepest-shipwreck/article_16e8e772-c842-5451-a100-608b9342dec6.html
