India, France to go undersea to uncover maritime heritage, treasure

Panaji, May 14, 2015: Precious gems, hippo's teeth and European currency scattered in the depths of the Arabian sea as well as uncovering priceless historic data about maritime trade between Asia and Europe dating to over 500 years is what's on the menu as Indian marine archaeologists and French divers collectively aim to salvage shipwrecks off India's western coast. A recent visit by French Ambassador Francois Richier to the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) located at Dona Paula near Panaji has triggered fresh hope for salvaging and preservation of nearly a dozen known shipwrecks dating several hundred years ago and discovering several more vessels resting anonymously along the seabed. "If you look at it from a historical perspective, gold and silver are interesting, but you can find many other things. From the archaeological perspective, if you can find some kind of equipment, some types of artefacts... it is useful for shaping of scientific history (maritime and trade history of the region)," Richier told IANS during his visit here. The cooperation, Richier said, would help in better understanding the maritime trade routes and help uncover and salvage precious heritage lost to the seas. Over the last decade and more, marine archaeologists at the NIO have located and in some cases even salvaged the remains of ships - some of which date to over 500 years - which met their watery graves due to accidents, storms and conflicts during the years when India's western coast was an important port-of-call along the trade route between Europe, the Indian subcontinent and the Far East. One of the most significant underwater discoveries off Goa was a few nautical miles off the Dona Paula cliff, a popular tourist spot along the Amee shoals and the Sunchi reef, whose raised laterite rock shoals have led several vessels to their doom.