by
The 160-year-old merchant ship Yangtze No. 2 Ancient Shipwreck was recovered from a river bed and cargo items were found on board, photos show.
Screenshot from Xi’s Moments Facebook
Salvage efforts in China freed an ancient shipwreck and its beautiful cargo after it was trapped beneath the waves for more than a century, photos show.
Researchers first discovered the Yangtze River’s ancient No. 2 shipwreck off the coast of Shanghai in 2015, but salvage efforts have taken years of planning and preparation, the State Council of the People’s Republic of China said in a Nov. 22 Xinhua news release.
According to experts, the 160-year-old shipwreck dates back to the Qing Dynasty. The wreck is “one of the largest and best-preserved wooden shipwrecks discovered underwater in China,” the press release said. With 31 cabins, the ship is 125 feet long and approximately 32 feet wide.
The sunken merchant ship rested about 18 feet underwater on the river bed near Hengsha Island, where the Yangtze River meets the East China Sea, officials said in a news release, when salvage operations began in March.
To bring the ship to the surface, researchers built a watertight chamber intended to enclose this particular shipwreck, the Global Times reported. After the wreck was inside, the chamber was slowly raised to the surface – a process that took nearly three hours.
According to an earlier press release, the shipwreck’s mast broke the surface shortly after midnight on Monday, November 21.
Before the shipwreck was brought to the surface, salvage workers explored four cabins and uncovered over 600 pieces of cargo, Global Times reported.
The cargo included “exquisite” blue and white china, purple clay vessels and other building materials, the press release said. Photos show the impressive finds.
Cups, bowls and plates – decorated with intricate blue patterns – were recovered from the wreck, photos show. One set of plates was a light blue-green color. Larger pieces of pottery were dark brown and showed light brown wear from their eventful journey.
Some of the cargo comes from a city in China’s Jiangxi province known as the “china capital,” officials said. Other articles come from Vietnam, Global Times reported.
The discoveries will teach researchers more about ancient Chinese pottery, economics and shipbuilding. The shipwreck will soon be taken to a dock on the Huangpu River, the largest river flowing through Shanghai, for further exploration and conservation, the press release said.
Google Translate was used to translate a press release from the State Council of the People’s Republic of China on Xinhua.
