A Dutch research on the sinking of the "oldest"

It was hailed as a happy accident, after rescue teams searching for containers dropped from a ship under a storm discovered a sixteenth-century shipwreck on the bottom of the North Sea.

The ship, dating back to 1540, was filled with a cargo of copper plates and some of them were on display Wednesday when the discovery was revealed.

He belonged to the Fugger family, one of the wealthiest banker families in Europe.

The wreck is described as "the missing link" in shipbuilding.

"It's the way the ship was built, it's very interesting, because you have to think that a hundred years later, the Netherlands was in the middle of their golden age – and this ship dates of a transition period, "said BBC marine archaeologist Martijn Manders.

Although it is always at the bottom of the sea, the divers intend to return to the boat during the summer. It is considered the oldest seagoing ship ever found in Dutch waters.

How the ship was found

When the merchant ship MSC Zoe fell into the North Sea at the North Sea during the storm of January 2, 2004, during which 345 containers fell, some flipped over and landed the following days, but many others stayed at sea.

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As rescue teams roamed the Dutch North Sea, their sonar equipment found an unknown object on the seabed a few kilometers north of the island of Terschelling, in the Wadden Sea.

What they discovered

A complete underwater expedition has yet to be carried out, but up to now, rescue teams have raised some of the copper cargo as well as three wooden planks and 12 wooden ribs from the ship's chbadis.

Underwater archaeologist Martijn Manders said that the early sixteenth century ship marked a period of transition in medieval history, when shipbuilders moved away from the traditional clinker-type model of the overlapping wood.

This ship also had elements of the old period, but included the new carvel system, with a hull made of planks flush with the seams.

Experts estimate that the 30m x 7m vessel could have carried up to 5,000 kg (5 tonnes) of copper.

"It was filled with copper plates bearing the stamp of the Fugger family – one of the richest families in the world," said Mr. Manders, who traced the journey of cargo from the copper mines of the family in modern Slovakia and along the Vistula River at the Polish port of Gdansk.

Its final destination was the main port of Antwerp, Belgium.

"They financed emperors and kings, so they were extremely rich, they pushed the Hanseatic traders out and hired Dutch ships to avoid working with them."

A copper expert from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam identified the chemical contained in the cargo as being identical to the first copper coins used in the Netherlands.

Copper coins were then developed as a cheaper alternative to gold and silver, and it now appears that copper from mines in Slovakia was used as currency in the Netherlands.

The discovery was exhibited by the Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency on Wednesday, and Mr Manders said law enforcement officials had been asked to secure the site of the museum. wreck.