BEIJING, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese archaeologists
are hoping to recover the wreckage of an ancient merchant ship loaded with
exquisite porcelain before the end of the year, says the Ministry of
Communications.
The vessel, which dates back more than 800 years, was
supposed to have been raised from the seabed off south China in October, but
strong gales and technical glitches stalled the operation.
The earliest possible timetable disclosed by Vice
Minister of Communications Huang Xianyao is late December and the state-run
China Central Television will carry a live broadcast of the salvage, he said.
Pu Shida, an official with of the ministry's Salvage
Bureau, told Xinhua that unexpected difficulties had occurred during the
operation in the South China Sea.
Archaeologists launched an unprecedented operation in
early May to raise the Nanhai No. 1, as they have named the vessel, and the
surrounding silt in a huge steel basket.
Attempts to lower the rectangular basket into the
water to cover the boat were hampered by a hard mud layer at about 10.5 meters
beneath the seabed. It had taken way much longer than expected to put in place
36 specially designed steel beams, Pu explained.
The beams, each stretching 15 meters and weighing
more than five tons, are to be put under the boat as the bottom of basket.
When the first steel beam was placed on Sept. 4, Wang
Renyi, deputy commander-in-chief of the operation with Guangzhou Salvage Bureau,
optimistically predicted, "If the other 35 beams can be set into place at a pace
of one each day, the ship will be hoisted out of water in mid-October."
Another factor postponing the salvage, Pu noted, was
the bad weather in summer and autumn. Only when the wind speed dropped below 8.9
meters per second could salvage operation be carried out. "Unfortunately, we
have experienced typhoons Pabuk, Sepat and Wutip over the past few months," he
said.
A source with the Salvage Bureau maintained that
setbacks were inevitable as such an operation had never before been carried out.
"We have to gather experience during the operation," he said.
Huang said that unlike the traditional practice of
excavating relics on sunken ships first and then salvaging the vessels, no relic
excavation would be made until the boat was hoisted out of water.
The wreck, located 20 nautical miles south of
Dongping port of Yangjiang City and more than 20 meters below the surface, was
found accidentally in 1987 by Guangzhou Salvage Bureau and a British underwater
salvage company.
At about 30 meters long, it is the largest Song
Dynasty (960-1279) cargo vessel ever discovered. Archaeologists estimate that
there are probably 60,000 to 80,000 relics on the sunken ship.
It is believed that a successful salvage will offer
important material evidence for the study of China's history in seafaring,
ship-building and ceramics making.
As early as 2,000 years ago, ancient Chinese traders
began to ship chinaware, silk, textiles and other commodities to foreign
countries along a trading route starting from ports at today's Guangdong and
Fujian provinces to countries in southeast Asia, Africa and Europe.
The maritime trading route, together with the ancient
Silk Road running through the hinterland of Asia and Europe, were the bridges
connecting the ancient civilization to the rest of the world in the east and
west.
Workers have cleared away 25 tons of silt around the
sunken ship and have brought out of the seawater 390 items. They include green
glazed porcelain plates, tin pots and shadowy blue porcelain objects.
Chinese archaeologists have so far found more than 10
sites of ancient wrecks along the maritime route.
"Steel box" sails off to salvage ancient
ship
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A huge steel box being loaded on a
towboat at the port of south China's Guangzhou city on May 5, 2007. The
steel box will be transported to the archaological site of "Nanhai No.1"
off the shores of Guangdong province around May 8th. The steel box,
measuring 35.7 m in length, 14.4 m in width and 12 m in height, weighing
530 tons, will be used to salvage the 800-year-old ship found at the
"Nanhai No.1" archaeological site. (Xinhua Photo)
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BEIJING, May 6 -- A towboat carrying a huge "steel
box" will leave the port of Guangzho in south China on Sunday morning to begin
salvage work on an 800-year-old ship, the most precious ancient ship found so
far in the world.
The towboat with the "steel box" will sail for 2 days
before reaching the working waters, some 20 nautical miles west of Hailing
Island of Yangjiang City in south China's Guangdong Province, according to the
Guangzhou Daily. Full story
300 more ancient porcelain objects recovered
from China's sunken ship
GUANGZHOU, July 14 (Xinhua) -- Archaeologists have
retrieved more than 300 pieces of porcelain from an ancient sunken ship in the
South China Sea off the Guangdong coast.
These porcelain objects, mostly bowls, plates, pots and
bottles, were believed to be produced in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), said Dr
Wei Jun with the Guangdong Archaeology Institute (GAI). Full story
