Text: René Lipmann Photos: Carl van Dijk

A 2000 year old Roman wreck with over 10,000 amphorae on board. Amateur diver Carl van Dijk was lucky enough to be able to dive on this shipwreck during the last archaeological research. On Duikvaker he shows film footage of his spectacular dive!

When I google your name plus archaeology and wrecks the number of search results is endless. Where does your enormous interest in shipwrecks come from? 

Diving is always a wonderful experience for me. I can really enjoy all the beauty under water. A shipwreck adds an extra dimension. A wreck is not only an oasis of life, it is a story in itself. What kind of ship was it? When and why did it sink and what can be found to trace its history. A shipwreck is a time capsule with a story, whether known or unknown.

You dive mainly in the North Sea and the Wadden Sea. How come there are so many shipwrecks around Texel?   

I am a member of the Texel Diving Club and dive in the Wadden Sea mainly on wooden shipwrecks. These are often destroyed during storms in the 17^e, 18^e and 19^e century passed away. 

At that time, the ships were supplied at Texel and were waiting for favourable winds to sail to the East, the West, to Scandinavia or the Mediterranean. 

On returning from the journey, the ships were unloaded again at Texel.

How are these wrecks discovered?

Most wooden wrecks have been covered with sand over the years. Sometimes parts wash free. If we are lucky, a fishing boat with a net gets stuck to it and we get a report. We call that a crochetIn 2001, a box of machetes in the nets of a Texel shrimp fisherman marked the start of research into the shard wreck.

Another hooker in 2010 was the famous Palm wood wreck with The Dress.

Which discovered ships capture the imagination?

There are many shipwrecks that capture the imagination. The Schervenwrak was one of them. All finds pointed to a 19^e-century wreck, while professionals dated it to a ship that sank around 1910. The Palmhout wreck still occupies many minds. The real name is still unknown despite the many found objects and archive research. With divers from the diving ship Lamlash, the German submarine U31 was discovered and identified. Foundation for the Investigation of Maritime Missing Persons (OMV) investigates missing fishing vessels. The identification of a plane wreck from WW2 was also very satisfying.

Sport divers come in all shapes and sizes… are you a treasure hunter or do you stay away from them? 

Many will call me a treasure diver. I take with me loose items that would otherwise wash away. A shipwreck is a time capsule. You can only take it once. It can also only wash away once and then it can unfortunately no longer be documented and studied. The Wadden Sea and the North Sea are quite turbulent diving sites. I often have a GoPro action camera with me to record the dive, provided the visibility is reasonable. I also enjoy a wreck dive without finds. As for the treasures: a shard can already yield a wealth of information. The largest treasure found by Duikclub Texel is of course De Jurk. A unique archaeological find from the Palmhout wreck, which would certainly have washed away if it had not surfaced.

You not only dive on these historic ships, but you also do research and publish books about them. How do you bring this history to the surface? 

There is an unknown shipwreck that you want to know more about. You start by finding out when it sank, with finds being crucial. Ultimately, the goal is to find out the ship's name and story. This is more often unsuccessful than successful, but it remains a challenge.

All those beautiful and special discoveries, is there actually a place where I can view something?

Many finds made by divers from Texel can be seen in Kaap Skil, a maritime museum in Oudeschild on Texel. Unfortunately, the wooden wrecks or wreck parts are usually washed away or eaten by the pile worm after a while before the story is complete.

The wrecks around Texel are not exactly from yesterday, but you also dived on a 2000 year old Roman shipwreck. Tell me!

Underwater archaeology is a relatively young science. It began in the 1950s with three ancient wrecks in the Mediterranean. Jacques-Yves Cousteau investigated a Roman ship near Marseille in France. George F. Bass did so on a wreck at Cape Gelidonya in Turkey and Nino Lamboglia at Albenga in Italy. 

These three wrecks from the Roman era were full of amphorae. For the first time, photographs and measurements were taken instead of just salvaging the amphorae. For the first time, attention was also paid to the coherence, the ship itself and the story behind it. 

There must not be much left to see on such an old shipwreck?

Little remains of the ship itself. When the Roman wreck at Albenga was discovered, it was a two-metre-high mound on the seabed, measuring 12 by 33 metres, consisting of earthenware vases, amphorae. It was estimated at the time that there must be around 2,000! Of these, around 200 were recovered using helmet divers and grabs. In 1957, research was carried out again. Fortunately, the damage to the wreck site turned out to be limited. In the 1980s, it turned out that the mound had flattened and the number of amphorae was reassessed. Research was carried out again recently, with divers excavating amphorae until the wooden ship's bottom could be examined. The number was later adjusted to around 10,000 amphorae.

More than 10,000 amphorae?! That sounds like a freighter! That must be pretty much diving heaven for you? Can I dive on it too? 

A large load indeed! Most of the Dressel 1 type, intended for wine. The hill from the previous century has been leveled off and the mostly broken amphorae are now scattered across the bottom. For years the wreck was a no go area, but recently there are a few days a year that the wreck site is open to recreational divers. Of course you have to be qualified to dive to 40 meters depth and the dive is supervised.

The wreck must have been extensively explored after its discovery?

Although the wreck of Albenga was already known to fishermen, research was not done until the early 1950s. Costeau used scuba divers in his research on the Roman cargo ship near Marseille. Helmet divers were still used in the first research of the wreck at Albenga and the Tintin suit. The wreck was already measured as well as possible and a photo mosaic was made. Also, amphorae and other artefacts were recovered to fill a museum. After this initial scientific research with helmet divers, a number of additional studies followed, in which diving was done with bottles and compressed air. During the last research I was lucky enough to be allowed to dive. No shards taken, but I did enjoy and film it.

What can we learn from these kinds of shipwrecks?

Underwater archaeology more or less began at this Roman shipwreck.

One of the first remarkable discoveries was that wine amphorae were also used for other things. The finds can be used to reconstruct ancient trade routes and provide a better understanding of what was shipped where.

Shipbuilding and its evolution are also important

Your presentation at Duikvaker is about this special shipwreck of Albenga. What can I expect as a visitor?

On Duikvaker I give a short introduction and tell you about Roman shipping, amphorae and the research that has been done in 70 years. From helmet divers to recent research in which volunteers also participated. I conclude with a film report of a spectacular dive on the Roman wreck of Albenga.

Carl van Dijk, guest speaker Duikvaker 1 and 2 February 2025

Stage 2, 12:00, the Roman wreck of Albenga