Overview

• An underwater drone surveying the seabed during a military operation in early March located the 16th-century merchant ship at 2,567 m off the Gulf of Saint-Tropez.
• The vessel's intact cargo includes some 200 jugs marked with the monogram “IHS,” around 100 stacked yellow plates, metal bars, two cauldrons, an anchor and six cannons.
• At more than 2.5 km deep, the wreck—named Camarat4—has remained virtually undisturbed, preserving an exceptional archaeological time capsule.
• Specialists from the Culture Ministry’s DRASSM will spend two years creating a 3D digital reconstruction and retrieving samples for detailed analysis.
• Archaeologists trace the ship’s origin to northern Italy, aiming to use the find to enrich understanding of Renaissance maritime trade and navigation.