The project “Secrets of the sunken ships” was started in St.-Petersburg in the summer of 2002 on the initiative of the public. Database materials on ship-wreckages in the region of the Gulf of Finland, the Ladoga, Onega and Chudskoe Lake, and also Ilmen Lake collected by A.V.Lukoshkov in 1989-2002 were based on works. The huge number of ship-wrecks was in a glaring contradiction with data on the found objects. In fact neither the Russian Empire, nor the USSR and the Russian Federation ever carried out purposeful works on detecting the objects located in these waters.

The initial idea of the project was connected with creation of the documentary series about unique cultural and historical monuments located in the Gulf of Finland and Ladoga Lake. Thus the name of the project was originally the name of a teleserial. The first expeditions were financed by the producer center "Shkola” (School) which shot the teleserial.

But a huge number of the objects found at the first expeditions which confirmed database reliability put a question of necessity of the first domestic register of the sunken objects drawing up. As under contemporary law they are the state property, the state appeared to be interested in getting data on the property. This development trend of the project was approved by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation that was effected by the agreement with Federal Agency on Management and Use of historical and cultural monuments. Works were also completely supported by regional authorities - first of all by Leningrad Region Government, Administration of St.-Petersburg and Administration of the Kaliningrad Region. Also Confederation des Activites Subaquatiques of Russia, in particular, its Science Committee lent an organizational support. The general sponsor of researches was the Open Society "Gazprom".

Since 2003 the basic investigation activity was searching, inspection, identification and registration of the found objects. Russian Academy of Science enlisted the main domestic center in the field of underwater archeology – Institute of Material Culture History of the Russian Academy of Science which missioned the experts for the project. As a result the found, identified and registered vessels at the bottom were inspected regularly step-by-step, according to the results of which registration forms and passports of the vessels were made. They formed the basis for state registration of the surveyed objects by Historical and Cultural Monuments of Leningrad Region Authority.

The results of the works are widely published, and are also presented to scientific community at various international forums (Kaliningrad 2003, Roskild 2003, Moscow 2004, Kohtla-Yarvi-Rakvere 2005, Helsinki 2005). The success achieved by Russian scientists caused a large interest and allowed to put a question of the beginning of the international cooperation within the limits of the project. First of all – in frontier areas researches. The concept and the scientific program of joint Russian-Estonian researches in the Narva Gulf region are developed at the moment. These documents were approved by regional authorities of frontier provinces Ida-Viiruma and Lyayane-Viiruma of the Estonian Republic. The coordination of work shedules is carried out at the moment. Similar programs are also prepared jointly with experts and regional authorities of South-East Finland. Great scope and labour input of various underwater researches executed at the depths of up to 75 meters required work of wide range of experts of hi-tech fields of knowledge under the project. During researches under the project organizations and divers from St.-Petersburg, Moscow, Vyborg, Velikiy Novgorod participated in solving of separate problems. Head cooordinator of works under the project of 2004 is Joint-Stock Company “Baltic Sea Society”.