Recovery in the North sea Container wanted, ship wreck discovered

the North sea has been looking for a salvage vessel Container of the damaged "MSC Zoe", and possibly a ship wreck discovered. It would be a sensational discovery.

By Ludger Kazmierczak, ARD-Studio, The Hague,

Actually, the salvage ship was fishing the remains of the sunken containers from the damaged cargo ship "MSC Zoe" from the North sea. But what was dangling there just before the coast of Terschelling on the crane of a heavy ship, were zerbeulte green and tarnished copper plates and pitted, rotten wooden beams.

From the layman's point of view, nothing more than scrap metal and waste for the recycling centre, from the point of view of the sea Thijs Coenen archaeologists a sensational discovery. Cargo and ship, both were unique, the expert:

"This is the oldest ship we have ever discovered in the Netherlands. Added to this is the most interesting cargo on Board: copper, which was probably intended for the production of the first copper coins of our country."

wood planks and copper from the trade ship will be presented in Amersfoort.

year 1540

The ship was probably built around 1540, says Coenen. The trees that have supplied the timber, had been definitely taken in the autumn of 1536, the expert, after a first evaluation of the findings. It was probably a for the time, a new Generation of ships - around 25 to 30 meters long and seven meters wide.

Cojen hoping for insights on the way in the past, such ships

were built: "For us, a ship marked the Transition between the different building traditions. This ship has been constructed in accordance with a then-new design - for very large ships, with which you could continue. Such vessels have later circumnavigated the whole world."

The copper might provide clues about the Golden age of the Netherlands, hopes Minister of science, Ingrid van Engelshoven.

copper Fugger

engravings in the oxidized copper plates indicate that the freight of a rich German banker and merchant family Fugger belonged, in the 16th century. Century, a copper monopoly possessed.

Minister of culture, Ingrid van Engelshoven is convinced that the exploration of the wreck and the cargo will provide important information on the so-called Golden age of the Netherlands:

"The discovery of these copper plates reveals a lot about the copper trade in that time and how the flows were. But also, as in 16. A century of trading in our towns and cities flourished, and that copper coins were needed, for which copper plates with ships in the Netherlands were driven."

divers should be more () to find

In summer, to divers to investigate the site to the North of the island of Terschelling in more detail. Thereafter, it is decided whether further remains of the ship are salvaged. The "MSC Zoe" had lost at the beginning of January during a severe storm nearly 350 containers. The salvage of these containers, a vessel from the 16th century. Century was discovered, described the Minister as a blessing in disguise. The Fund, van Engelshoven, was an enrichment for the cultural heritage of the Netherlands.

ship wreck in the Dutch North sea discovered
Ludger Kazmierczak, ARD Den Haag
03.04.2019 at 18:16

Download the audio file

We offer this Audio in the following formats for Download:

mp3 Ogg Vorbis

note: , If the audio file is not saved when you Click automatically, you can select click with the right mouse button and "save target as...".