After 14 days of thorough reconnaissance the Arqueonautas team of marine archaeologists and divers was able to confirm that rescue recovery operations must take place on the ‘Wanli Cargo’ shipwreck located in the Java Sea.

The porcelain dated approx. 1580, from the period of the Wanli emperor, represents the largest Ming cargo ever found to date with approx. 700.000 pieces of ceramic. The Chinese merchant ship from the time of the Wanli Emperor sank around 1580 in over 50 metres depth approximately 150 kilometres (93 miles) off the Indonesian coast

Fishermen found the wreck in mid-2009 and the Indonesian government contracted AWW and RM Discovery to carry out the delicate task of recovering its historically significant cargo, the company said.

AWW CEO Nikolaus Sandizell said salvage operations on the "Wanli" wreck would begin in the coming months.

"This unusually large ship for the late 16th century makes this project a unique challenge for our team from a cultural, historical and commercial point of view," he said.

The wreck contained an estimated 700,000 pieces of porcelain, he said.