Kostas Thoctarides, a professional diver since 1987 and explorer of naval history, said in a Facebook post on July 28 that a team consisting of Nikolaos Anestis, Spyros Vougidis, Agapi Oceanis Thoktaridis, Aris Bilalis and himself, found the wreck near Kythnos at a depth of 110 meters, with its stern collapsed. 

Its prow is facing north, and widely dispersed debris has been found 30 meters from the stern, which indicates that a powerful explosion happened while the ship was on the surface of the water, he told state-run news agency AMNA on Sunday. There are no indications of its date yet.

Metal parts of the vessel and the deck have been blown beyond the wreck and damage shows that it sank very fast.

The diving team reviewed the wreck with a remote-operated vehicle (ROV) and found that the ship’s length was estimated at nearly 40 meters, while its profile height appears to be a maximum of 3 meters high. An additional unique construction factor is that the frame lines are spaced very close to one another.

“The general picture and the wreck’s unique construction – with no shipholds – indicates a very old ship, possibly a warship,” Thoctarides told AMNA.

He hopes that historical research will help identify the ship.

A video of the shipwreck was uploaded by ROV Services, a company founded by Thoctarides, on its YouTube channel on July 27.

This article was previously published at ekathimerini.com.