The Black Sea Maritime Archaeology Project finds a virtually intact ancient Greek trading ship dating back more than 2,400 years at the bottom of the Black Sea, the world's oldest known shipwreck

LONDON, United Kingdom – An ancient Greek trading ship dating back more than 2,400 years has been found virtually intact at the bottom of the Black Sea, the world's oldest known shipwreck, researchers said on Tuesday, October 23. 'Oldest Intact Shipwreck Known To Mankind' Found In Depths Of Black Sea

More than a mile beneath the surface of the Black Sea, shrouded in darkness, an ancient Greek ship sat for millennia unseen by human eyes — until the Black Sea Maritime Archaeology Project happened upon its watery grave last year. During the three-year project, researchers used specialist remote deep-water camera systems previously used in offshore oil and gas exploration to map the sea floor. In the statement, the team said a small piece of the ship was carbon-dated by the University of Southampton, which confirmed it to be the oldest intact shipwreck known to humankind. The 75-foot merchant vessel — thought to have sailed during Ancient Greek and Roman times — was salvaged by British scientists about 50 miles off the coast of Bulgaria, as part of the Black Sea Maritime Archaeological Project. "A ship, surviving intact, from the Classical world, lying in over 2km of water, is something I would never have believed possible," Jon Adams, an archaeology professor at the University of Southampton and the group's principal investigator, said in a statement released Tuesday.
The discovery of a Classical Greek trading ship thought to date to approximately 400 BC is reported by a team of scientists working in the Black Sea. It is the oldest known intact shipwreck.