In an extraordinary archaeological survey of the disputed South China Sea, Chinese marine experts claim to have found three ancient merchant ships, as reported first by SMCP.
According to a report on Sunday by official broadcaster CCTV, the wrecks were discovered in the huge strait between China's southern coastline and the Xisha Islands, also known as the Paracels and claimed by Vietnam.
The Technologies Behind the Shipwrecks Discovery
Mass surveillance technology was deployed by a team of scientists and engineers from over ten research institutions, which some observers note could also be advantageous to the Chinese military.
The report said that more than 60 artifacts were found, inspected, and pulled from depths of up to 3,000 meters (almost 2 miles), including copper coins, wooden planks, porcelain, pottery, and purple-clay ware.
The survey's scope was unparalleled, according to the scientists, and it was carried out from China's two largest research vessels. They can search 100 sq km (38 square miles) per day using modern sonar hardware and technology, picking up things as small as one meter (3 feet) in length.
Chen Chuanxu, the project's lead engineering scientist and an associate researcher at the Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, claimed that despite going three times deeper than previous surveys, the team was more productive because of close human-robot cooperation.
An unmanned underwater vehicle was also responsible for taking pictures of the objects that were located in the shipwrecks using towed sonar.
The deep-diving team captured footage presented in the CCTV report, showing them performing laser scans of a possible ship's hull, gathering silt samples for study, and using a mechanical arm to remove delicate objects like ceramics and porcelain.
However, further inquiry is still required, according to Deng Qijiang, deputy head of the underwater archaeological institution of the National Cultural Heritage Administration in Beijing.
Nevertheless, he said that the most recent survey had developed a complete set of deep-sea archaeological inquiry procedures, which will pave the road for greater discovery of deep-sea cultural relics in the future.
Military Seabed Devices
The archaeological survey techniques would also be capable of finding military equipment that other nations may have hidden on the seabed, according to a Beijing-based sonarologist who was not associated with the project but is knowledgeable about the technology.
The sonarologist, who requested anonymity due to the subject's sensitive nature, told SMCP that the US military had created several deep-seas tools that might be used in disputed areas like the South China Sea.
The sonarologist claimed that the "upward falling payload" is one of them, a piece of equipment that can be anchored to the seafloor more than 2,000 meters below the surface and left there for up to five years.
According to the US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, the six-meter device can be activated at any time and send sensors, drones, or missiles to the surface where they can gather intelligence, serve as decoys, or directly attack enemy locations.
Other military seabed devices, according to the sonarologist, may track submarine activity, produce signals for underwater navigation, or serve as a hub for drone charging as well.
Related Article : 'Deepest Shipwreck Discovery': Explorers Find WW2 Navy Destroyer Below the Pacific
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Written by Joaquin Victor Tacla
