Divers believe that a galley found about a mile off the coast of Gozo belonged to the Phoenician Period, dating back to 700 BC.

Minister for Culture Owen Bonnici, said, this site is considered as one of the oldest in the central Mediterranean, and that the boat was most probably around 50 feet long.

Following several months of careful planning, eventually led to five days of fieldwork at a depth of 120 meters.

He added that for the some time a Maltese team from within the University of Malta has been working in close collaboration with the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage – along with the French National Centre for Research and the University of Marseille, on a number of studies on what he described as a “fascinating shipwreck.”

The team worked over five days to gather information through endurance technologies being developed specifically for the purpose of recording ancient sites underwater such as this one.

More than 50 assorted amphora were also discovered by the divers, which researchers said indicated that the vessel had been in different harbours.

The items found were well preserved and were clear evidence of Phoenician maritime activity around the Maltese islands.

University Rector, Juanito Camilleri, said that this find “was very important for Malta.”

The site is being explored by GROplan Project, funded by the French National Research Agency. The project is aimed at developing underwater photogrammetry and is currently focused on piecing together over 8,000 photographs to create a very high resolution and detailed 3D model of the site

Minister Owen Bonnici thanked the experts for their work and said that while the Government would like the site to be accessible to the public in the future, scientific research and preservation experts would need to be consulted first.

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