An 18th-century shipwreck carrying the best-preserved cargo of Chinese porcelain ever found in Northern Europe has been discovered in Norwegian waters, the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage said Monday.
The wreck, known as the Porcelain Shipwreck, lies at a depth of about 600 meters in the Skagerrak Strait and is believed to have sunk in the mid-18th century.
According to the directorate, archaeologists have recovered large quantities of blue-and-white Chinese porcelain, along with chandelier fragments, goblets, textiles and grain. Work is still ongoing, and new finds are continuing to emerge. The departure and destination of the shipwreck have not been determined.
The wreck was discovered in 2025 by Espen Saastad, a Norwegian watchmaker who also operates a small remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and survey company.
"So when we come down with ROV, we landed on the seabed, we turned on the sonar and we started to move against the items we see on the sonar picture. We started to see artifacts coming up, small pieces of leather, small pieces of wood. And of course then we understand we are approaching a shipwreck. And on the live sonar, we saw very hard objects when we come into the wreck. And it's a little bit not-so-good visibility, a little bit blurry, and you fly about the seabed, and you come in and you see a lot of white items. And what is all this? And then suddenly we realized it was porcelain, at least we thought it was porcelain. And as we approached very closely, we saw all the patterns and it was very reckonable Chinese porcelain. And of course, the people on-board the boat were like, it was really amazing," said Saastad.
Norway's Minister of Climate and Environment Andreas Bjelland Eriksen said the discovery is of considerable scientific value and could provide new insights into Norway's and Northern Europe's maritime history.
The Norwegian Maritime Museum has started a preliminary investigation ahead of a possible excavation. Marine archaeologists spent several days in May investigating the wreck from a research vessel. The work included video recording, photogrammetric survey and the recovery of samples and diagnostic artifacts. The operation used an underwater ROV equipped with a robotic arm, suction devices and camera systems.
The porcelain is believed to be of Chinese origin and dates from the mid-18th century. The chandelier fragments are thought to be of German or English design, but further research is needed to determine the ship's origin, route and destination, according to the directorate.
Experts were astonished that the hull and cargo were unexpectedly well-preserved, with some wooden cases carrying porcelain remaining intact and goods still stored in their original positions.
"It's an assemblage of trade goods which has a lot of variations and shows some of the complexity in the trade relations in Northern Europe at the time. It's the state of preservation which makes it possible to see the quality of the things but also study organic materials, and that is rare. And it is the fact that the trade bills are still within the confines of the ship's hull, which makes it possible to study the organizational space. And that is also very rare," said archaeologist Frode Kvalo, manager of the Porcelain Shipwreck project.
Chinese porcelain cargo found in 18th-century shipwreck off Norway
Major breakthroughs by Chinese scientists have laid the foundation for a future where space-based solar power stations are capable of wirelessly transmitting energy to Earth and spacecraft, though significant engineering problems remain.
A research team from Xidian University in northwest China's Shaanxi Province has made significant progress on the Sun Chasing project, or "Zhuri" in Chinese. The team has developed a ground-based test system for wireless power transmission that can charge multiple moving targets at the same time.
In recent tests, the system achieved a wireless power transmission efficiency of 20.8 percent from direct current to direct current over a distance of 100 meters. It delivered 1,180 watts of power. The team has also built a wireless charging system for drones. In a test, a drone flying at 30 kilometers per hour was able to receive 143 watts of stable power from 30 meters away.
A space solar power station works exactly as its name suggests: a huge array of solar panels placed in orbit. It would collect sunlight in space, where the sun always shines, and then convert that energy into microwaves or lasers to beam down to Earth or directly to satellites and spacecraft. This could address two significant issues: supplying uninterrupted power for space missions and alleviating energy shortages on the ground.
"The construction of space solar power stations could become a major undertaking in the future. One potential benefit is access to a virtually unlimited power supply. Because energy can be collected continuously in space 24 hours a day, electricity could be supplied on an uninterrupted basis," said Fan Guanheng, an associate professor at the School of Mechano-Electronic Engineering at Xidian University.
"Secondly, it could reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, thereby lowering carbon emissions and helping protect the environment. Thirdly, it could support the development of charging infrastructure in space and enable wireless microwave charging for spacecraft, changing the way power is supplied to space vehicles," the professor added.
In 2018, the research team launched the first phase of the Sun Chasing project to build a ground test system. By June 2022, they had completed the world's first full-link, full-system ground validation system for a space solar power station. Now, the team has moved to phase two. The goal now is to solve the challenges of generating high power in space and transmitting it efficiently over long distances.
According to Duan Baoyan, an expert at Xidian University and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, recent breakthroughs include improving the efficiency of solar energy collection and conversion, increasing the precision of microwave beam control to reduce energy loss, and making the transmitting and receiving antennas smaller and lighter, which is critical for space application.
The team has also solved the problem of how to power multiple moving targets at once using a single transmitter. This means that in the future, one space power station could potentially supply electricity to several satellites or ground vehicles at the same time, Duan said.
Despite the advances in ground-based validation, a series of technical challenges must still be overcome before the technology can be deployed in space.
"The first issue that needs to be addressed is the adaptability of components to the space environment, as conditions in space are completely different from those on Earth, including radiation exposure and extreme temperatures. Another challenge involves the deployment and retraction design of transmitting and receiving antennas. We also need to develop thermal management systems to cope with extreme temperatures and temperature fluctuations in space. These are all areas where further breakthroughs are needed," said Qian Sihao, an associate professor at the School of Mechano-Electronic Engineering at Xidian University.
"We have now completed the development and validation of a ground-based test system, and our next step is to carry out in-orbit wireless microwave power transmission," Fan said.
With ground validation complete, the team now turns its attention to overcoming the harsh realities of space, aiming to demonstrate in-orbit wireless power transmission and bring the vision of orbital solar energy closer to reality.
Space-to-earth solar power moves closer to reality although hurdles remain: scientists
