The Nanhai One is a Chinese

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 merchant ship which sank off the south China coast during the Southern Song Dynasty

Song Dynasty

The Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a...

 between 1127 and 1279.

History

The shipwreck was found in 1987 by a team from Maritime Exploration & Recoveries PLC of Southampton

Southampton

Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...

 UK, during their search for the wreck of the 18th Century ship Rhynsburg. MER PLC had a joint venture with the Guangzhou branch of the Chinese Salvage Company.

The ship is 30.4 m (100 ft) long and 9.8 m (32 ft) wide, 3.5 m (11 ft) in height (excluding the mast). It is the biggest ship of its kind to be found. It was the first ancient vessel discovered on the "Marine Silk Road

Silk Road

The Silk Road or Silk Route refers to a historical network of interlinking trade routes across the Afro-Eurasian landmass that connected East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean and European world, as well as parts of North and East Africa...

". According to the head of the excavation project, the ship left port in southern China to trade with foreign countries and sank probably due to stormy waves. It was quickly buried by silt.

Artefacts

When first found about 200 pieces of porcelain from the Sung Dynasty were recovered, together with Sung coins, about 130 kilos of silver bars, a brass kettle and a gold waist chain. Some artefacts suggest that the wreck may have been from the early Yuan period

Yuan Dynasty

The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...

1280+. It may or may not have been a Chinese ship. Recently there have been reports that the artefacts were 'smashed'. Relatively few pieces were damaged at the time of recovery, the writers has the original pictures, but cannot understand how to upload them.

At the time of the second survey it is reported to have 60,000 to 80,000 items onboard.

In 2007, China began to raise the ship and its artifacts. The ship will be placed in a pool-type container called the "Crystal Palace". The container is 64 meters long, 40 meters wide and 23 meters high. It contains seawater and is about 12 meters in depth. Visitors will be able to watch the ongoing excavation of the ship through windows on two sides of the pool.