Chinese raise 800 year old shipwreck
 

And this was a wooden boat....

Just think how long a FRP hull will last? Maybe 800 years from now
they'll raise my boat.....but if they do it won't be loaded with
containers made of gold and silver or rare porcelains. :-)

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China Raises 800-Year-Old Sunken Ship
AP
Posted: 2007-12-21 16:37:04
Filed Under: Science News
BEIJING (Dec. 21) - After 800 years at the bottom of the sea, a
merchant ship loaded with porcelain and other rare antiques was raised
to the surface Friday in a specially built basket, a state news agency
reported.

The Nanhai No. 1, which means "South China Sea No. 1," sank off the
south China coast with some 60,000 to 80,000 items on board, Xinhua
News Agency reported, citing Wu Jiancheng, head of the excavation
project.


Photo Gallery: Shipwreck Discoveries
Color China Photo / AP Archaeologists in China raised an 800-year-old
ship Friday by building a steel basket around the vessel and using a
crane to lift it up. The Nanhai No. 1, a merchant ship, was loaded
with porcelain and other rare antiques.
1 of 9
Archaeologists built a steel basket around the 100-foot vessel, and it
took about two hours for a crane to lift the ship and surrounding silt
to the surface, Xinhua said. The basket was as large as a basketball
court and as tall as a three-story building.

Green-glazed porcelain plates and shadowy blue porcelain items were
among rare antiques found during the initial exploration of the ship.
Archaeologists have also recovered containers made of gold and silver
as well as about 6,000 copper coins.

The ship dates from the early Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279). It
was discovered in 1987 off the coast near the city of Yangjiang, in
Guangdong province, in more than 65 feet of water.

The Nanhai No. 1 was placed on a waiting barge. It will be deposited
in a huge glass pool at a museum where the water temperature, pressure
and other environmental conditions are the same as where it has lain
on the sea bed.

Feng Shaowen, head of the Yangjiang city cultural bureau, said
visitors will be able watch the excavation of the ship through windows
on the pool.

The recovery of the Nanhai No. 1 was originally scheduled for
Saturday, but organizers decided to raise it a day early because of
favorable weather.