A marine survey conducted near the island of Kythera for the construction of the Crete-Peloponnese subsea interconnection has revealed a shipwreck of the classical era, Greece’s electrical grid operator ADMIE announced on Thursday.

According to the preliminary results of the research conducted by the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities and the Hellenic Center for Marine Research (HCMR), the shipwreck which was located at a depth of 222 meters and dates from the end of the 5th to the mid-4th century BC.

Amphoras originating from the islands of Corfu, Skopelos and Chios were identified in the cargo deck of the sunken ship, a fact that indicates a highly developed network of commercial activity that linked the Aegean and the Ionian Sea.

The completion of the three-dimensional imaging of the shipwreck, which is in progress, is expected to give an even clearer view of the size of the vessel and the volume of its cargo.

In a statement, Minister of Culture and Sports Lina Mendoni said: “Our country is a developed archeological site, an archeological palimpsest. The land and the seas hide unexplored cultural treasures. In any major project, public or private, the chances of discovering antiquities are extremely high.”

ADMIE said it intends to support possible initiatives for the collection and exhibition of the findings, at the discretion of the competent authorities.

[AMNA]