JAKARTA — A $70-million haul of Ming Dynasty porcelain has been found in a 16th-century shipwreck off the Indonesian island of Java, a Portugal-based salvage company said Friday.
Arqueonautas Worldwide (AWW) and its Indonesia-based partner RM Discovery Inc. said an “archaeological reconnaissance operation” had confirmed the discovery of the “biggest shipwreck cargo of Ming porcelain ever found”.
“The Chinese merchant ship from the time of the Wanli Emperor sank around 1580 in over 50 metres (600 feet) depth approximately 150 kilometres (93 miles) off the Indonesian coast,” the company said in a statement.
Fishermen found the wreck in mid-2009 and the Indonesian government contracted AWW and RM Discovery to carry out the delicate task of recovering its historically significant cargo, the company said.
Categories: Indonesia