Medieval shipwreck discovered in Himara waters

TIRANA, July 19 – A US-Albanian expedition has discovered a wrecked medieval ship, believed to belong to the 16 to 17 centuries, in the southern Albanian waters of Himara. The discovery, bringing new evidence of the medieval history of the southern Albanian waters, was made by using a robot of the Hercules research vessel, said the team in a statement.
Undersea scanning devices show the ship was equipped with cannons on both sides of its deck. Archeologists believe the ship could be part of Venetian, Ottoman or Spanish fleet based on the model of its anchor.
The discovery of the medieval ship will shed light on the kinds of ships visiting medieval Himara and medieval military expeditions carried out there.
Documents show several punishing expeditions were made by the Ottoman fleet in the Himara banks.
Last month, the same expedition discovered a giant cargo ship believed to have sunk during World War II in the waters of Karaburun peninsula, southern Albania.
The 145 meter-long ship is believed to be one of the ships of the Italian marine, which was attacked by British submarines in June 1943, when Albania was still under Italian occupation. US and Albanian experts say the discovery could be Italy’s Rosandra ship, which sank in a fatal voyage from Vlora to Greece’s Patras port while transporting materials for the Italian military.
The expedition, funded by the US Nautical Foundation and co-led by US Jeff Royal and Adrian Anastasi, the director of the Albanian Institute of archaeology, showed once again the great values and treasuries hidden in Albanian waters.
The US-Albanian expedition has been searching Albanian waters for four years to discover archaeological objects. Organizers say the expedition will continue scanning Albanian waters for another month to compile underwater maps, putting Albania among the few Mediterranean countries which have been able to identify their underwater heritage.
According to Auron Tare, the expedition’s coordinator, the project’s final goal is to establish a museum of archaeology, possibly in Porto Palermo, which will make possible the preservation and display of underwater heritage. Porto Palermo, located in the 140-kilometer stretch of coastline between Vlora to Saranda, with a 18-century castle of Ali Pasha, is regarded as one of the most attractive locations in the Albanian Riviera.
The US-Albanian expedition has discovered numerous amphoras and artefacts including ancient Greek, Roman, medial and modern finds. Together with Albanian archaeologists the group has found 18 wrecks from ancient, medieval and modern times in their survey off the Balkan country’s coast in the last three years.