Team Salvaging Articles From 1890 Turkish Shipwreck Off Wakayama

[Bianca]

                          Team salvaging articles from 1890 Turkish shipwreck off Wakayama






Monday 12th January
TANABE —

A team of experts on Sunday began a second round of work to salvage articles from the Ertugrul Firkateyni, a Turkish military ship that sank in a severe storm off the coast of Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture, in 1890. After studying the seafloor in 2007, the team, consisting of 12 people including a Turkish archeologist and a Spanish oceanic architecture expert as well as local divers, has been salvaging the wreckage since last year under a three-year plan.

In its first attempt from January to February last year, the team lifted a total of 1,171 items from the sunken ship, such as buttons probably from military uniforms and a telescope lens. The members hope to find 2,000 more items this round that will run through Feb 3. The 76-meter-long Ottoman Turkish wooden ship was wrecked in September 1890 with 650 crew aboard. It was on its way home after delivering a letter from the sultan and a medal to Emperor Meiji.



© 2008 Kyodo News.