Deepest French Shipwreck Discovery: Navy Locates 16th-Century Merchant Ship Off Ramatuelle

In early March 2025, a French Navy team conducting a standard military survey of the Mediterranean seabed picked up an unexpected sonar signal more than 2,500 meters down.

What followed was the confirmation of Camarat 4, a 30-meter-long, 7-meter-wide 16th-century merchant vessel now recognized as the deepest shipwreck ever documented in French territorial waters.

The discovery took place roughly 1.5 miles off the coast of Ramatuelle, near Saint-Tropez in the Var department, during mission CALLIOPE 25.1 under the Maritime Prefecture of the Mediterranean.

Navy specialists from the Expert Center for Human Diving and Underwater Intervention (CEPHISMER) were mapping the seafloor when processing the data revealed a large uncharted object.

An autonomous underwater vehicle, the A18D built by Exail, returned with initial camera footage.

A follow-up deployment of a remotely operated vehicle, capable of operating to 4,000 meters and launched from the support vessel BSAA Jason, delivered high-resolution color images and video without any physical contact to the site.

The wreck, designated Camarat 4 as the fourth cultural maritime asset recorded in the sector, rests at a depth that places it well beyond the reach of earlier salvage efforts or looters.

Its hull and cargo lie partially buried in sediment on the seafloor.

Visible artifacts include approximately 200 polychrome faience pitchers, many featuring the Christ monogram “IHS” or plant and geometric motifs bordered by double fillets, along with about 100 plates.

Both types of ceramics match 16th-century production from the Liguria region in what is now northern Italy.

Additional items include anchors, six cannons, two cauldrons, and scattered metal elements.

Experts believe the ship was sailing southwest from Liguria when it sank around 500 years ago.

According to the official announcement from the Maritime Prefecture of the Mediterranean on June 12, 2025, the extreme depth has kept the site remarkably intact.

Water temperature stays constant, oxygen levels are negligible, and wood-boring organisms cannot survive, leaving the wooden timbers and cargo in a state that archaeologists describe as frozen in time.

Marine Sadania, an underwater archaeologist with the French culture ministry’s Department of Underwater and Submarine Archaeological Research (DRASSM), said the scene feels “as if time stopped on this ship.”

Arnaud Schaumasse, head of DRASSM, stated, “It is the deepest shipwreck ever found in French territorial waters.”

The previous record holder was the French submarine La Minerve, which sank in 1968 and rests at roughly 2.3 kilometers near Toulon.

The find also carries a contemporary note.

Images captured by the ROV show modern debris, including plastic bottles, beer cans, and fishing nets, mixed among the Renaissance-era artifacts.

Schaumasse observed that after the initial awe of the discovery comes the recognition that even the deep ocean is not immune to human pollution.

DRASSM and Navy teams now plan full photogrammetry, 3D modeling of the site, and targeted sampling of artifacts in collaboration with specialists in ceramics, naval architecture, and conservation.

The wreck joins a growing catalog of 16th-century vessels in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region and will support further study of Mediterranean trade routes from that era.

The depth and condition of Camarat 4 underscore both the reach of current deep-sea survey technology and the untapped archaeological potential that still lies in French waters more than two kilometers below the surface.