The ship is 21 metres long and six metres wide and lies at a depth of 46 metres, reports the BBC.
Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli calls the find “one of the most important underwater archaeological discoveries in recent years.” The shipwreck is estimated to date from the first or second century BC.
Freediver Giacomo De Mola initially thought it was just a rock when he scanned the seabed. When he dived down, he discovered the wreck, loaded with hundreds of jars. The jars were used for wine and oil in ancient times.
“The most incredible discovery of my life,” De Mola writes
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He reported the find to cultural preservation authorities, whose specialist divers are now investigating the site.
