A 'history-changing' discovery: 3,000-year-old ship containing wine jugs found 55 miles off the Israeli coast by underwater robots shows ancient seafarers were more daring than previously thought

Experts say the ship was found 1 mile deep on the seafloor off the coast of IsraelREAD MORE: Ernest Shackleton's 'last ship' is FOUND off coast of Newfoundland

An ancient ship containing hundreds of stunningly-preserved wine jugs has been found on the floor of the Mediterranean.

The 40-foot vessel, found 1 mile deep on the seafloor 55 miles from Israel's coast, dates back 3,300 years to the late Bronze Age, experts say.

It's thought to be the oldest ship found this deep in the Med, as previous shipwrecks from this era never ventured this far away from land.

This suggests ancient seafarers were more capable at navigating the deep seas than historians previously thought.

The ship likely sunk either from a storm or after coming under attack by pirates, the discoverers believe.

The 40-foot vessel, found 1 mile deep on the seafloor 55 miles from Israel's coast, dates back 3,300 years to the late Bronze Age, experts say. Here, researchers check jugs that were discovered in the wreck - more than a mile deep on the bed of the Mediterranean

The ship's cargo was hundreds of intact amphorae - the ancient vessel form used as a storage jar for wine, oil and fruit

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Jacob Sharvit, head of the Israel Antiquities Authority's marine unit, called it 'a world-class history-changing discovery'.

'The ship seems to have sunk in crisis, either due to a storm or to an attempted piracy attack – a well-known occurrence in the Late Bronze Age,' he said.

Although its exact location is undisclosed, the experts said the shipwreck is on the seafloor around 55 miles (90km) from Israeli land.

The ship itself is staying underwater at least for now, but marine technicians have managed to extract its jugs 'with minimal risk of damage to the entire assemblage'.

The jugs are amphora – a style of storage vessel typical of the ancient world with a large oval body, narrow cylindrical neck and two handles, used for carrying oil, wine and fruit.

researchers checking artefacts that were discovered in a wreck more than a mile deep on the bed of the Mediterranean Sea by London-listed energy firm Energean

The contents were identified as Late Bronze Age storage vessels by the Israel Antiquities Authority

The late Bronze Age ship itself is staying underwater at least for now although the contents have been brought to land

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'The muddy bottom conceals a second layer of vessels, and it seems that wooden beams of the ship are also buried within the mud,' said Sharvit.

The fact that the ship was so far out to sea suggests navigation abilities of ancient seafarers were more advanced than previously thought.

They would have been capable of traversing the Mediterranean without a 'line of sight' to any coast, instead of being forced to stay close to land where they could more easily return home.

'From this geographical point, only the horizon is visible all around,' said Sharvit.

'To navigate they probably used the celestial bodies, by taking sightings and angles of the sun and star positions.'

Two similar ships from the same era had been discovered previously in the Mediterranean, but only close to shore.

The ship itself is staying underwater at least for now, but marine technicians have managed to extract its jugs 'with minimal risk of damage to the entire assemblage'

This is both the first and the oldest ship found in the Eastern Mediterranean deep sea, ninety kilometers from the nearest shore

The 'ground-breaking discovery' was unexpectedly made last year by Energean, a London-based natural gas firm during routine scans of the seafloor using robots – but only now are experts detailing the findings.

'As part of our ongoing activity to discover and extract natural gas from the deep sea, we conduct surveys that check different parameters, using an advanced submersible robot to scour the seafloor,' said Dr Karnit Bahartan at Energean.

'About a year ago, during a survey, we saw the unusual sight of what seemed to be a large pile of jugs heaped on the seafloor.

'We are in ongoing contact with the Israel Antiquities Authority, and when we sent them the images it turned out to be a sensational discovery, far beyond what we could imagine.'