Last week, an archaeological investigation was carried out on the area in the North Sea where Maasvlakte 2 is to be located, starting next year.

Old anchors and other ships’ attributes were the main items found, as well as the wooden shell of a small boat and a copper pan. The Port Authority conducted this investigation to find out if there were any locations of archaeological importance in the area. These must be protected as much as possible. The investigation was carried out by divers and an archaeologist. The divers reported their findings verbally and by means of video to the archaeologist, who led the investigation from the research vessel Neptunus.  
The necessary preliminary work was carried out last year. First of all, on the basis of existing information, they looked at which shipwrecks there were around Maasvlakte 2. The seabed was then charted by means of a three-dimensional survey. Unevenness in the seabed points to locations which could be of archaeological interest. There was clear evidence of something at eleven locations, but it was not clear what. These eleven potentially interesting spots were combed during last week’s spell of calm weather. The divers were only able to descend to the seabed during high and low tide, because the currents would otherwise have been too strong to carry out any investigations. The National Service for Archaeology, Cultural Landscape and Built Heritage supervised the investigation. 
The finds vary from old ships’ anchors, fishing nets, chains and a large slab of concrete to the wooden shell of a small boat, half of which is protruding from the sand. A wood sample has been taken from the last item. In the coming weeks, the growth rings of this wood will be studied to determine the age of the wreck. Only then will it be clear whether or not it is of archaeological value, for example because few comparable boats are known of. A copper pan was also found at the site of the boat. This could also help date the find. 
In as far as can be seen at present, none of last week’s finds should cause problems for the construction of Maasvlakte 2. The policy is that archaeological finds are protected as much as possible or, if this cannot be done, they are studied before the site is damaged. If the latter is required, there is still time to do so this year. 
Two ships’ wrecks were already known to lie at the location of the future Maasvlakte 2: the Cornelia Maersk (sank in 1942) and the South America (sank in 1966). Neither have any archaeological value.  
There are probably more wrecks in the sea to the south of the Maasvlakte. That’s because access to the port of Rotterdam was via what is now the Oostvoornse Meer and the Brielse Meer before the Nieuwe Waterweg was built. The shipping route therefore ran more to the south.