An autonomous deep-sea drone mapping the Mediterranean seabed off Ramatuelle, near Saint-Tropez, has discovered a 16th-century merchant ship resting more than two kilometers below the surface. According to French maritime officials, the vessel is the deepest shipwreck ever found in the country’s territorial waters, remaining largely intact due to the cold, dark water of the deep sea.
How the Deepest Shipwreck in French Waters Was Found
The discovery happened by chance. The underwater drone was not searching for historical artifacts; it was working on a government project to map the deep floor, tracking resources ranging from minerals to undersea cables. During this routine operation, the sonar returned an unexplained shape more than two kilometers down.
“The sonar detected something quite big, so we went back with the device’s camera, then again with an underwater robot to snap high-quality images,” Thierry de la Burgade, a deputy maritime prefect, told CBS News.
Subsequent camera passes and robotic deployments confirmed the object was a merchant ship measuring roughly 30 meters long and 7 meters wide. Arnaud Schaumasse, head of the culture ministry’s underwater archaeology department, told CBS News that Camarat 4—the provisional name given to the site—is “the deepest shipwreck ever found in French territorial waters.”
Before this discovery, the record holder in the area was not a historical sailing vessel, but La Minerve, a submarine that sank in 1968 with 52 crew members aboard off Toulon. Camarat 4 sits at an even greater depth. The ship was discovered unexpectedly during an exploratory mission conducted as part of the ministerial strategy for mastering the seabed, according to an official statement translated from French.
Why the 16th-Century Wreck Remains Intact
Depth typically complicates marine archaeology, but in this case, it protected the vessel. The water at a depth of a mile and a half is cold, pitch black, and well beyond the reach of the recovery and fishing that routinely disturb shallower historical sites.
“The site, thanks to its depth which prevented any recovery or looting, has remained intact, as if time froze, which is exceptional,” Marine Sadania, an archaeologist on the study team, told CBS News.
Did you know? While the deep Mediterranean protects the hull from looters, it is not entirely sealed off from the surface. Researchers noted modern waste near the site, including an empty yogurt container and a soda can that drifted down and settled on the seabed.
The ship’s cargo survived alongside the hull, providing researchers with clear clues about its origins. The survey team counted roughly 200 ceramic jugs featuring pinched spouts, many stamped with an IHS monogram alongside plant and geometric patterns. Alongside the pottery, the team documented about 100 yellow plates, two cauldrons, an anchor, and six cannons.
The decorated jugs point directly to Liguria in northern Italy as the vessel’s likely departure point. Researchers believe the ship set out loaded with metal bars and pottery before sinking off the French coast sometime during the 1500s.
Future Plans for the Camarat 4 Wreck Site
Rather than attempting a complex and potentially damaging recovery operation, DRASSM plans to take a patient approach. The team intends to spend approximately two years building a complete 3D digital reconstruction of the site while retrieving physical samples from only a select few items.
DRASSM characterized Camarat 4 in a project summary as “a remarkable discovery for its depth, unprecedented character and the opportunity it offers to study an almost intact 16th-century wreck.”
This find highlights a broader shift in underwater archaeology. Historically, a shipwreck resting nearly two and a half kilometers down would have been out of reach for human divers, remaining a rumor or an impossibility. The deployment of self-guided industrial mapping drones changes that calculus entirely.
The technology built to survey the seabed for cables and minerals has inadvertently become a primary tool for maritime history. As government programs continue mapping the deep floor of the Mediterranean—a heavily used shipping lane for thousands of years—researchers expect more discoveries to emerge from the dark.
Frequently Asked Questions
How deep is the Camarat 4 shipwreck?
The shipwreck rests about a mile and a half (more than two kilometers) beneath the surface of the Mediterranean Sea.
Who found the 16th-century wreck?
An autonomous government mapping drone discovered the wreck while surveying the seabed for minerals and undersea cables off the coast of Ramatuelle, France.
What cargo was found on the ship?
Underwater robots identified roughly 200 ceramic jugs from northern Italy, 100 yellow plates, two cauldrons, an anchor, and six cannons.
Will the ship be raised to the surface?
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