The ship, which carried approximately 11 million gold and silver coins, was estimated by Sky News to be worth about $20 billion and earned the nickname "the Holy Grail of shipwrecks."

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Israeli archaeologists have announced a groundbreaking discovery – the remains of what is believed to be the oldest shipwreck found in deep waters. Hundreds of intact amphorae, ancient storage jars dating back approximately 3,300 years, were discovered 90 kilometers (56 miles) off the northern coast of Israel, resting at a depth of 1,800 meters (5,905 feet) on the seabed.

"This is both the first and the oldest ship found in the Eastern Mediterranean deep sea, ninety kilometers from the nearest shore. This is a world-class history-changing discovery: This find reveals to us as never before the ancient mariners' navigational skills," said Jacob Sharvit, head of the Israel Antiquities Authority's (IAA) marine unit, noting that it challenges previous academic assumptions that trade during the late Bronze Age was conducted by hugging coastlines within sight of land. "From this geographical point, only the horizon is visible all around. To navigate they probably used the celestial bodies, by taking sightings and angles of the sun and star positions." The IAA believes the ship likely sank due to a storm or pirate attack.

The wreck was initially spotted by submersible robots belonging to the oil and gas company Energean, during a routine survey for potential new energy sources off the Israeli coast. Dr. Karnit Bahartan Head of the Environmental Staff at Energean stated, "Cameras picked up what seemed to be a large pile of jugs heaped on the seafloor."

Due to the immense significance of this discovery, Energean assembled a team that collaborated closely with experts from the Israel Antiquities Authority to meticulously examine the shipwreck. They utilized their "Energean Star" vessel, equipped for deep-sea operations. The company's technicians devised a unique and intricate plan, even constructing a specialized tool to extract artifacts while minimizing the risk of damage to the entire assemblage. Over the course of two days at sea, the Energean team retrieved two vessels, each from opposite ends of the ship, to minimize disturbances to the intact assemblage of the boat and its cargo.

The two amphorae are believed to have been used by the Canaanite people who inhabited an area stretching from modern-day Turkey to Egypt. "The vessel type identified in the cargo was designed as the most efficient means of transporting relatively cheap and mass-produced products such as oil, wine, and other agricultural products such as fruit. Finding such a great quantity of amphorae on board one single ship is testimony to significant commercial ties between their country of origin and the ancient Near Eastern lands on the Mediterranean coast," says Sharvit.

The discovered jars are expected to be displayed at the National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel in Jerusalem this summer.

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Romanian officials commemorated for the first time the victims of the sinking of the Struma 80 years ago, which was carrying hundreds of Holocaust survivors from Romania.

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The ceremony took place on Tuesday in the coastal town of Constanţa, in southern Romania, from where the ship left port in 1941 with around 770 people, including more than 100 children and 10 crew members.

A Red Army submarine mistook the Struma for a hostile vessel after Turkish authorities towed it away from the dock in Istanbul and left it in international waters without a working engine or anchor. Only one person survived.

During the ceremony, which was attended by around 80 people, Romanian Rear Admiral Mihai Panait, the country's Navy commander-in-chief, and Florin Goidea, the port director of Constanţa, laid wreaths on the waters next to the wharf where the Struma set sail.

"This is the first time that Romania has officially commemorated the tragedy of Struma on its soil and it is part of the efforts of successive governments in recent years to confront the past and the events of the Holocaust era, when the half of the country's Jewish community was murdered," said Israeli Ambassador to Romania David Saranga.

The Struma was trying to carry nearly 800 Jewish refugees from Axis-allied Romania to Mandatory Palestine when it was sunk on Feb. 24, 1942.

It was the largest civilian Black Sea naval disaster of World War II.

This article was first published by i24NEWS.

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