In March 2025 a French Navy drone was mapping the seabed south of Saint-Tropez when its sonar picked up something large that nobody had recorded. A camera sent down after it found a merchant ship from the 1500s lying 2,567 meters down, the deepest known wreck in French waters.

In March 2025 a French Navy drone was mapping the seabed south of Saint-Tropez when its sonar picked up something large that nobody had recorded. A camera sent down after it found a merchant ship from the 1500s lying 2,567 meters down, the deepest known wreck in French waters.

The accidental discovery of a 500-year-old merchant ship in the deepest waters off France raises questions about how many other wrecks lie hidden in the abyss, waiting to rewrite maritime history.