Shanghai will launch the "hardcore" shipwreck salvage project in history.
On the morning of March 2, the largest overall salvage and protection project of an ancient shipwreck in the mainland, the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 Ancient Ship Archaeology and Cultural Relics Protection Project, was officially launched at the Gaoqiao Wharf outside the Shanghai Salvage Bureau, lifting the mystery of the ancient ship No. 2 at the Yangtze River Estuary that has been sealed for nearly eight years since its discovery.
The surging news learned at the scene that according to known archaeological exploration, the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship is a wooden sailing ship in the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, which is another milestone major discovery in China's underwater archaeology after the wreck of the "Nanhai No. 1" ship of the Song Dynasty in Guangdong Province discovered 35 years ago. The shipwreck is one of the ancient wooden shipwrecks with the largest volume, the most complete preservation and the estimated number of cultural relics on board in China and even in the world, and is a precious cultural heritage with important historical, scientific and artistic value.
Shanghai Salvage Bureau Outside Gaoqiao Wharf, the launching ceremony of the "Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 Ancient Ship Archaeology and Cultural Relics Protection" project, the surging news photo
Eight years ago, when the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics organized the Shanghai Municipal Cultural Relics Protection and Research Center to carry out a key underwater archaeological survey in the Chongming Hengsha waters at the mouth of the Yangtze River, this ancient wooden shipwreck was discovered. Since the discovery of the shipwreck, professional archaeological institutions have conducted underwater archaeological exploration and multidisciplinary research on the wreck site every year.
So why start the archaeological salvage of the shipwreck this year? According to underwater archaeological surveys in recent years, the No. 2 ancient ship at the mouth of the Yangtze River has been seriously washed by the current, especially with the change of the flow direction of the Yangtze River estuary, the riverbed has changed from silt to rapid downward cutting, resulting in the acceleration of the ancient ship to expose the surface of the riverbed, and the hull is facing a serious safety threat. In order to prevent the natural and man-made destruction of the No. 2 ancient ship at the mouth of the Yangtze River, the relevant departments decided to carry out overall salvage and protection. Its salvage technology scheme will adopt the world's first "arc beam non-contact cultural relics overall migration technology", known as the "hardcore" salvage process in history.
Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship overall migration project equal proportion sea trial site map
According to the plan, the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship is expected to complete the salvage and relocation task by the end of 2022.
After the shipwreck is salvaged, how to protect and utilize it in the future is also a topic of great public concern. According to reports, Shanghai will choose the site of Yangpu Binjiang Shanghai Shipyard to prepare for the construction of the shipwreck archaeological base and ancient ship museum, archaeologists will gradually unveil the many unsolved mysteries of this ancient shipwreck of the Qing Dynasty.
After more than 150 years of sinking to the bottom of the sea, wooden sailing ships in the Qing Dynasty "emerged" in Chongming waters
Shanghai, since ancient times, has been the starting point and one of the important ports of the Maritime Silk Road, and has risen rapidly at the beginning of modern times, becoming a well-known international metropolis and a major port in the world. The Yangtze River estuary in Shanghai is at the mouth of the Yangtze River's "golden waterway" and the central point of China's north-south coastline. Throughout the ages, on this busy route and in the complex waters, there have been countless underwater treasures and unsolved mysteries.
Ancient ship BV5000 composite diagram
According to the overall deployment of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Cultural Heritage has launched a census of underwater cultural heritage since 2011, and collected more than 150 clues to underwater cultural relics in the waters of the Yangtze River Estuary through land surveys and visits, access to literature and other means. However, in this water where visibility is almost zero, the exploration of underwater cultural heritage is like finding a needle in a haystack. For a long time, the muddy water environment has been the bottleneck of the development of underwater archaeology in China, especially in the waters of the Yangtze River Estuary in Shanghai. To this end, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Cultural Heritage organized archaeologists and scientific and technological workers from the Shanghai Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Research Center, Shanghai University, the Ningbo Base for the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage and other institutions to carry out cross-border cooperation, jointly tackled key problems, independently developed the "Underwater Imaging Device for Muddy Waters" that won the national patent, developed the "Key Technologies and Applications of Robot Underwater Archaeological Equipment" that won the second prize of the Shanghai Science and Technology Award, and used unmanned boats, multi-beam, side-sweep sonar, shallow stratigraph profilers and magnetometers and other marine geophysical surveying and scanning equipment , to carry out underwater joint surveys of the waters of the Yangtze River estuary.
Multibeam Sonar Top View 2018
Side sweep sonar figure 2018
In 2015, when the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics organized the Shanghai Municipal Cultural Relics Protection and Research Center to carry out a key underwater archaeological survey in the Chongming Hengsha waters at the mouth of the Yangtze River, a relatively well-preserved iron shipwreck was found through sonar scanning and other technologies, and the archaeological number was "Yangtze River Estuary No. 1". After underwater archaeological diving exploration, it was confirmed that the shipwreck was an iron warship of the Republic of China period. Subsequently, archaeologists expanded the scope of surveying and exploration, and found another large and well-preserved wooden ancient shipwreck in the north of the shipwreck, the archaeological number is "Yangtze River Estuary No. 2". Since then, the prelude to decoding the no. 2 ancient ship at the mouth of the Yangtze River has been opened.
Schematic diagram of the location of the No. 2 ancient ship at the mouth of the Yangtze River
Underwater exploration: Discover important cultural relics such as blue and white porcelain of the Yuan Dynasty and Qing Dynasty
In order to further clarify the nature and age of the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship, under the specific guidance of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, since 2016, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Cultural Heritage has taken the lead in organizing the Archaeological Research Center of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Shanghai Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Research Center, the Ningbo Base and Wuhan Base for the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage, the Shanghai Salvage Bureau of the Ministry of Transport, Shanghai University, the Fuzhou Municipal Cultural Relics and Archaeology Task Force and other domestic professional institutions to conduct underwater archaeological exploration and multidisciplinary research on the shipwreck site every year. After more than six years of underwater archaeological investigation and exploration, the basic situation of the No. 2 ancient ship at the mouth of the Yangtze River has been preliminarily explored.
Simulation of the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship
Simulation of the No. 2 ancient ship at the mouth of the Yangtze River
The surging news learned that the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship is a wooden sailing ship, confirmed to be dated to the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty (1862-1875 AD), the water depth of the water is 8-10 meters, the hull is buried in 5.5 meters deep silt, and the horizontal left tilt is about 27 °. The length of the ancient ship is about 38.5 meters, the width of the ship is about 7.8 meters, and 31 cabins have been discovered. The upper part of the wreck has a complete structure, such as the pointed bow, pile, main mast, left and right sides, and upper deck. Judging from the current survey situation, the ancient ship type is suspected to be a flat-bottomed sand boat widely used in Shanghai during the Ming and Qing dynasties.
"Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 Ancient Ship" out of the water porcelain
Celadon shisha tanks discovered during an underwater archaeological expedition to the wreck site in 2016
2018 shipwreck site out of the water artifacts
The Tongzhi year-made green glazed cup that came out of the water in 2018
Tongzhi year-old green glaze cup bottom
2019 out of the water part of the blue and white porcelain
Through the selection of 4 cabins before and after the small-scale cleaning, it was found that there were exquisite cultural relics such as Jingdezhen kiln porcelain that were neatly stacked in the cabin, and there were many types and large numbers of cultural relics that had been completely or repaired. In addition, a large number of cultural relics such as purple sand ware, hookah canisters from Vietnam, wooden bucket fragments, masts, large hardwood ship timber, iron anchors, brown cables, pulleys, metal drill bits, drill pipes and black minerals have been unearthed in and around the hull. From July to September 2021, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Cultural Heritage once again organized underwater archaeology professional institutions to conduct an underwater survey of the ancient ship and its surroundings at the mouth of the Yangtze River, and cleaned up large-scale complete vessels such as Yuan Dynasty porcelain and 60 cm high bean blue glaze blue flower vase that had not been found in previous surveys. In particular, some of the ancient ships have a water porcelain bottom book "Tongzhi Year System", which provides an important basis for the dating of ancient ships.
2021 Izumi Yuan Dynasty porcelain bowl
2021 bean blue glaze blue flower large vase
The Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship is another milestone major discovery in Chinese underwater archaeology after the "Nanhai No. 1" shipwreck of the Song Dynasty in Guangdong Province discovered 35 years ago, and is one of the ancient wooden shipwrecks with the largest volume, the most complete preservation and the estimated number of ship-borne cultural relics found in China and even in the world, and is a precious cultural heritage with important historical, scientific and artistic value.
Pastel verse pattern cup
"Salvage as a whole" to protect the originality and integrity of underwater heritage
Why did the salvage of the shipwreck start this year? According to underwater archaeological surveys in recent years, the No. 2 ancient ship at the mouth of the Yangtze River has been seriously washed by the current, especially with the change of the flow direction of the Yangtze River estuary, the riverbed has changed from silt to rapid downward cutting, resulting in the acceleration of the ancient ship to expose the surface of the riverbed, and the hull is facing a serious safety threat.
In order to prevent the natural and man-made destruction of the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship, experts suggest that it is necessary to salvage the water as soon as possible and move it into a fixed place for archaeological excavation, cultural relics protection, research and display and utilization.
At present, there are three main ways of salvage of global underwater shipwreck archaeology: one is to extract the cultural relics on the ship and dismantle and salvage the shipwreck; the second is to use the cofferdam to pump water for archaeological excavation and then salvage the shipwreck; the third is the special caisson to salvage the shipwreck, cultural relics and the surrounding seawater and sediment in accordance with the original state of one-time suspension and transportation.
Due to the extremely high turbidity of the estuary of the Yangtze River, the underwater visibility is almost zero, and the working time of the flat tide is very short, it is impossible to complete the scientific underwater archaeological mapping and photography operations; the time and cost of underwater archaeology and the construction of the cofferdam are huge, and the archaeology after the cofferdam will obstruct the waterway for a long time. Overall salvage, on the other hand, can migrate shipwrecks in the shortest time, at the lowest cost, and with the greatest retention of historical information. Therefore, after many arguments, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Cultural Heritage decided to adopt the overall salvage method of the No. 2 ancient ship at the mouth of the Yangtze River to protect this precious underwater cultural heritage to the greatest extent.
This is also the second time after 15 years of the overall salvage of the "Nanhai No. 1" that the mainland has carried out the overall salvage of underwater ancient shipwrecks. In October last year, the State Council announced the "14th Five-Year Plan for the Protection of Cultural Relics and Scientific and Technological Innovation", which listed the No. 2 ancient ship at the mouth of the Yangtze River as a major project of underwater archaeology in China.
The "hardcore" salvage plan was revealed for the first time, and the "dripping water" wrapped shipwreck out of the water
How to formulate the most scientific, safest and most efficient overall salvage plan for the yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship and its surrounding environment?
According to the relevant person of the Shanghai Salvage Bureau of the Ministry of Transport, who is responsible for the salvage task of the ancient ship, due to the high sediment content and fast water flow speed at the mouth of the Yangtze River, the salvage of the underwater ship cannot use the overall salvage method of Guangdong's "Nanhai No. 1", but will adopt the world's first technical solution - "arc beam non-contact cultural relics overall migration technology".
Ancient ship salvage animation video. Video source: Courtesy of Shanghai Salvage Bureau of the Ministry of Transport (03:41)
Previously, the Shanghai Salvage Bureau had successfully completed the offshore equal proportion salvage test using the technology in January this year. At that time, 22 giant "arc beams" will be driven by the top-entry transmitter frame, forming a huge arc-shaped caisson at the bottom of the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship, the caisson is 51 meters long, 19 meters wide and 9 meters high, which can wrap the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship and its attached thick sediment and seawater "dripping without leaking", plus the weight of the salvage equipment itself, the total weight of the caisson is nearly 10,000 tons. This technology especially combines the processing technology of nuclear power arc beam, tunnel shield boring technology, immersed pipe tunnel docking technology, and the use of hydraulic synchronous lifting technology, integrated monitoring system and other current world's most advanced high-tech. At the same time, these technologies are also the first time to be applied to the field of cultural relics protection and archaeology, which can maximize the protection of the originality and integrity of underwater cultural heritage, ensure the safety of cultural relics, and truly realize the integration and development of cultural relics protection and scientific and technological innovation.
After the caisson came out of the water, in order to successfully escort the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship to the Huangpu Riverside storage site, the Shanghai Salvage Bureau also tailored a "central opening" engineering ship for the caisson, and the caisson could be tightly embedded in its open middle. Subsequently, the engineering ship will "embrace" the yangtze River estuary No. 2 ancient ship to the destination.
According to reports, the overall salvage and migration project of the No. 2 ancient ship at the mouth of the Yangtze River integrates the world's most advanced salvage technology, technical route and equipment manufacturing in one, forming the hardest core fifth-generation salvage process in history, which is unprecedented in the world today.
Conservation and utilization: The Museum of Ancient Ships and the Research Center for Underwater Archaeology will be built
The discovery and excavation of the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship is of great significance to the academic level and the underwater archaeological technology level, and it is also a physical witness of modern Shanghai as the trade and shipping center of East Asia and even the world, filling an important gap for the discovery of large wooden shipwrecks in this historical period of the mainland, and providing important empirical evidence for the study of China's "Maritime Silk Road" and the "golden waterway" of the Yangtze River.
After the shipwreck is salvaged out of the water, how to protect and utilize it in the future is also a matter of particular concern to the public.
The Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics revealed that the preservation of the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship is extremely complete, and the number of cultural relics on board is large, which is enough to support the construction of an ancient ship museum with great world influence. At present, the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government have officially decided to choose the site of Yangpu Binjiang Shanghai Shipyard, making full use of the two old docks and preserved historical buildings to prepare for the construction of the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 Ancient Ship Museum. The project will be used as a major public cultural and sports facilities construction project in Shanghai in the "14th Five-Year Plan".
The Shanghai Shipyard Dock, with a history of nearly 100 years, is about to be transformed into an archaeological base for shipwrecks and an ancient ship museum
In the future, the old dock, which is a historical building, will also be "gorgeously transformed" into an archaeological base for shipwrecks and an ancient ship museum. Archaeologists will gradually uncover the many unsolved mysteries of this ancient shipwreck of the Qing Dynasty here. At the same time, it will also be a living museum, which can simultaneously carry out archaeological excavations, cultural relics protection and display education, as well as archaeological and intangible cultural heritage living experiences, and scientific research on international underwater cultural heritage.
Carry out the archaeology, protection and museum construction of the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship, which is the world's first project of archaeological excavation, overall relocation, cultural relics protection and museum construction and display. The Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 Ancient Ship Museum is expected to be built into a world-influential ancient ship museum, a global first-class underwater archaeological research center, a display window of the International Shipping and Trade Center, and a cultural landmark of the People's City "Life Show Belt".