Underwater Cultural Heritage Registration and Target Verification Project

The work undertaken and completed in 2025 under the project includes the following components:

1. Monitoring of registered shipwrecks:

Monitoring operations were completed for eight registered shipwrecks, including Jiangjun No. 1 and the SS Bokhara. In addition, in-depth investigations were carried out at the 第五靜海丸 (also known as 惠通輪), and the SS Lombard. Relevant documentation was collected and consolidated to support the Bureau of Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Culture, in completing the statutory registration procedures for these two shipwrecks.

2. Verification of underwater targets:

Verification surveys were conducted on underwater targets identified through investigations associated with offshore wind farm development, marine construction projects, and general surveys. A total of 10 underwater targets were verified in the coastal waters along the western coast of Taiwan.

Continued investigation of selected shipwrecks:

Ongoing investigations were conducted at Penghu No. 1, Maosiyu No. 1, and Waiqianshi No. 1. A total of 61 artifacts were recovered from Penghu No. 1, while one artifact each was recovered from Maosiyu No. 1 and Waiqianshi No. 1.

Survey of newly designated sensitive areas:

Beginning this year, surveys were initiated in the First, Second, and Third Sensitive Areas in the waters of Kinmen, as well as in the Seventeenth Sensitive Area in the northern Penghu–Jibei waters. These surveys identified 20 potential underwater targets, which were subsequently verified through diving inspections by the archaeological team. Three of these targets were confirmed as large iron-hulled shipwrecks; however, their dates and functions remain to be determined through further research.

In the waters surrounding Jibei Islet in northern Penghu, oral histories, documentary sources, and archival records indicate a relatively high density of ancient shipwrecks. At a depth of approximately four meters, a structure believed to be an abandoned stone fish weir was identified.