Shipwrecks filled with relics found in deep sea

"Discovery of inbound and outbound ancient ships in the same area demonstrates the significance of the route. It helps us study the Maritime Silk Road's reciprocal flow," Tang said.

The first round of investigation into the two ancient shipwrecks was officially launched on Saturday and will continue through June.

The exact coordinates of the shipwrecks have not been released in order to protect the relics, but a metal surveying marker was set on the seabed on Saturday near the No 1 shipwreck to facilitate future research, Yan said.

The research is being conducted by about 30 experts from the National Centre for Archaeology, the Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering, and the China (Hainan) Museum of the South China Sea.

The submersible Shenhai Yongshi, or Deep Sea Warrior, carried by China's scientific research vessel Tansuo 1, took researchers underwater for the exploration on Saturday. Chen Chuanxu, a scientist at the Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering, said that another vessel, the Tansuo 2, equipped with the submersible Fendouzhe, or Striver, will join the mission.

Advanced technological approaches, including soft robotics inspired by bionics and material science, were employed during the operation to salvage some of the relics from the shipwreck sites. New methods of scanning, photography and monitoring were also used.

"Speaking of protection and real-time monitoring of such a large underwater site at a depth of 1,500 meters, we have no precedent in the world," Chen said, adding that the researchers are currently trying to remotely monitor the site.

Between now and April 2024, the submersibles are projected to conduct around 50 dives, according to Song Jianzhong, a researcher at the National Centre for Archaeology. "We first need to figure out the condition of the shipwrecks, and then we can draft plans for archaeological excavation and conservation," Song said.

He added that future expeditions will also cover geophysical and geological studies and research of marine life.

China's underwater archaeology previously focused mainly on the shallow sea and areas close to islands and reefs. The situation began to change in 2018, when the National Centre for Archaeology and the Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering jointly established a laboratory for deep-water archaeology.

In 2022, the joint team found cultural relics, including coins ranging all the way from the Tang Dynasty (618-907) to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), at a depth of about 2,100 meters near the Xisha Islands.

"China will promote international cooperation in protecting underwater cultural relics and share its experiences," Yan said.