Wrecks & Archaeology

“This is a cultural treasure of immense importance,” Bruno Werz said when offering journalists a first glimpse of the precious find at the excavation site in Namibia’s diamond-rich ‘no-go zone’. Werz is leading a team of archeologists and geologists from Namibia, the United States, Portugal, South Africa and Zimbabwe in excavating the ship. The wreck has been described as the best-preserved example of early Portuguese ships found outside of Portugal. It’s good state of preservation being attributed its long burial in sand, which preserves wood.

The vessel's hull, constructed without iron nails, is 16 m (52 feet) long, 5 m (16 feet) wide and 4 m (13 feet) deep. There is a hole in the right side of the hull and divers believe the ship sank during a storm.

They also discovered suspected human remains.

The expedition to the depths of the world's deepest and oldest lake was organized to search for historic artefacts linked with the Krugobaikal Railway, which saw numerous train crashes in the 19th century.

If that age is accurate, the skeleton, Dubbed Eva de Naharon, or Eve of Naharon, —along with three others found in underwater caves along the Caribbean coast of the Yucatán Peninsula —would be the oldest human skeleton ever found in the Americas

The three other skeletons excavated in the caves have been given a date range of 11,000 to 14,000 years ago, based on radiocarbon dating. The finds could provide new clues to how the Americas were first populated.

The submarine was reported lost Aug. 16, 1942.  Underwater video footage captured by an expedition hired by sons of the commanding officer, Lt. Cmdr. Mannert L. Abele, allowed the Navy to confirm the discovery.

Japanese anti-submarine attack data recorded no attack in the Aleutian area at the time of the Grunion's disappearance, so the submarine's fate remained an unsolved mystery for more than 60 years, the US Navy said.

Commercial clearance divers were expected to survey the wreck once it had settled later on Sunday to ensure all the charges had detonated.

Moorings will then be installed by Parks Victoria before the government opens the site for divers, in about a month's time.

Built in 1978 and launched two years later, the frigate served Australia for 24 years before it was decommissioned in 2005.

It served in the Middle East following the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq in 1992 and helped evacuate Australians from Jakarta in 1998 during the student riots that deposed Indonesian president Suharto.