How many shipwrecks are there in the ocean?

According to a UNESCO analysis, there are more than 3 million ships "resting" under the world 's oceans undiscovered.

One of three shipwrecks in Skerki Bank, Tunisia. Photo: UNESCO/Drassm — One of three shipwrecks in Skerki Bank, Tunisia. Photo: *UNESCO/Drassm*

Using multibeam sonar and underwater robots, a team of UNESCO scientists mapped the seabed of the Skerki Bank, a coral reef that connects the eastern and western Mediterranean. Last week, they announced the discovery of three shipwrecks from the 1st century BC, the 2nd century and the 19th or 20th century, BBC reported on June 12.

Humans have been active at Skerki Bank for thousands of years, and hundreds of ships have been sunk during this time. UNESCO estimates that many more wrecks remain undiscovered beneath the waves of the world’s oceans.

The oldest known wooden boat, dating back more than 10,000 years, was found by chance during highway construction in the Netherlands. But boats are likely to have been invented much earlier, as humans were already reaching the other side of the open water. Scientists believe that around 50,000 years ago, a group of hunter-gatherers from Southeast Asia crossed the hundreds of kilometers of island chain, and not long after, the first Australian Aborigines appeared at Lake Mungo in New South Wales.

Wherever there have been voyages, there have been shipwrecks. Today, the world’s oceans are littered with the wreckage of thousands of years of merchant ships, warships, and explorers. Among them are pirate ships loaded with silver, cargo ships that traveled along the maritime Silk Road, luxurious royal liners that disappeared with future kings, ancient fishing trawlers, modern submarines and destroyers, 19th-century whalers, and even giant passenger ships like the Titanic.

Like time capsules, they attract great archaeological interest and provide museums around the world with a host of valuable artifacts, such as the mysterious astronomical clock from Antikythera, which some experts consider to be the oldest computer.

How many shipwrecks are there in the ocean? — Titanic wreck at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Video : *WHOI*

There are several wreck databases around the world, each with slightly different estimates of the number of wrecks discovered. The Wrecksite website lists 209,640 sunken vessels, of which 179,110 have been located. The Global Maritime Wreck Database (GMWD) contains records of over 250,000 wrecks, many of which have yet to be found.

By one estimate, there were 15,000 shipwrecks in World War II alone. Many warships and liquefied petroleum gas tankers were scattered from the Pacific to the Atlantic, slowly decomposing and leaking oil, chemicals, and heavy metals into the surrounding area.

Experts say recorded shipwrecks represent only a fraction of the true number. According to a UNESCO analysis, there are more than 3 million ships resting undiscovered in the world's oceans.

Shipwrecks are not evenly distributed. There are certain “hotspots” – maritime graveyards along popular or dangerous routes. Skerki Bank is one such graveyard, as are the Fourni Islands, also in the Mediterranean. To date, 58 ships have been found there, including 23 in just 22 days in 2015.

In the past, many wrecks were discovered in relatively shallow waters, sometimes by accident – when fishermen, scientists or treasure hunters explored the surrounding seas. But now, with sophisticated submersibles, modern cameras and new sonar technology, finding wrecks deep in the ocean is much easier. They are gradually revealing more interesting information about human life in the past.

Thu Thao (According to BBC )

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