Licensed divers from UNESCO and the Bavarian Society for Underwaterarchaelogy – BsfU have made an important discovery in the Black Sea this week. On Wednesday, March 23, the divers found a shipwreck which is believed to date from the 2nd century AD.

“We’ve been here since last Saturday and I think this is the most important wreck discovered so far as it is intact,” said BsfU president Tobias Pflederer, quoted by local Agerpres.

BsfU will also support the local authorities in Tulcea county in their plan to set up the first underwater archaeological research center in Romania. In this sense, BsfU has concluded a cooperation protocol with Gavrila Simion Institute of Eco-Museum Research (ICEM) in Tulcea earlier this year.

“We’ve already submitted the pre-financing request in the Integrated Territorial Investment - Danube Delta mechanism, and the project considers the entire coastline of the Black Sea and the Danube Delta,” said George Nutu, representative of ICEM.

BsfU was established in 1984 and has 70 members. Its responsibilities also include the monitoring of the UNESCO underwater sites.

Costinesti seaside resort hosts the most popular shipwreck in Romania. The E Evanghelia (in picture) is a shipwrecked 7,355 gross register tons refrigerated cargo ship built in Northern Ireland in 1942. The ship had several names over time, including Empire Strength, Saxon Star and Redbrook.

In 1986, the ship was sailing from Yugoslavia to Romania when she ran aground in the Black Sea off Costinesti about 16 nautical miles (30 km) south of Constanta. The wreck is now a popular tourist attraction.

Second ancient shipwreck found in Romania’s Black Sea

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com