Ships are the basic object of search works executed under project expeditions as they are of the greatest interest and of high value for history studying. Besides ships and vessels are the most mass (except anchors) group of objects located at the bottom along the most ancient trade route of Northern Europe from the Baltic to the Caspian Sea. This trade corridor has been used possibly since V or VI century AD. (See history section)
Probably, here the world's largest collection reflecting all the forgotten history of Northern Europe shipbuilding is kept. It is difficult to count up precisely, what percent of all vessel types mentioned in saved written sources is known for they construction to scientists today. But it is known absolutely precisely, that this percent is insignificant. Judge by reference books only about 400 ships-monuments are kept in the world, 80 % of which refer to XX century. Constructions and parameters of the overwhelming majority of vessels quarter seas and oceans during other 19 centuries, in essence, are unknown. What were the most ancient «leather vessels» or «long ships» and the Scandinavians’ «merchant ships»? For certain there were tens of constructions a few of which are known to us. And what snekker looked like? What was three-mast cogg? What were hulk and nef? The mankind knows almost nothing about it today. The whole layer of world culture history is actually lost. And we hope, that there is a chance to return the lost knowledge, having found the ships which were driven by representatives of today's Germany, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, France, Italy, the United States of America, Finland, Sweden, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belgium, Spain.
As to our national history, texts of annals and bylinas have accustomed us to an idea, that Slavs were remarkable sailors since ancient times. But actually no real evidence of these legends has been found till nowadays. We believe that wreckages of the ships which names are known for us only from ancient manuscripts lie exactly at the bottom of local water areas. There are many names of them – ushkuj, nasad, lodja, lojva, a plane with an attic, small plane, pauzok, busa, karbus... But today historians know neither what they looked like, nor their dimensions and their constructions. We hope our researches will eliminate these lacunas in national history. And from the point of view of 300-years Russian fleet history the bottom of the Gulf of Finland is generally a unique storage where samples of all battle and transport ships types, which have been a part of the Navy for 300 years, are kept. Even incomplete listing of their names impresses: brigantines, ostrovskije boats, skampavejas, galleys, snows, shkutes, fluyts, tyalks,ewers, cats, craers, frigates, capital ships, bombard ships, battle-boats, battle yole, packet ship, cotters, yachts, brigs, golets, galjots, floating batteries, prames and semiprames, schooners, boats, gemams, transports, paddle steamers, steamer-frigates, steam battle-boats, corvettes, clippers, screw sailing frigates, monitors, torpedo boats, fleet attendance torpedo boats, cruisers, armoured cruisers, minelayers, battleships of coastal defense, fleet attendance battleships...
Without any doubt, the Gulf of Finland, the Ladoga, Ilmen, Onega, Pejpus are one of the most perspective regions for outstanding archeologic discoveries of world value. And wreckages of the ships located at their bottom are exhibits of the world biggest sea museum.
