There are an estimated three million undiscovered shipwrecks scattered on the oceans’ floor across the world, some of which are thousands of years old. Even the figures for the known wrecks are impressive. For example, the website Wrecksite.eu contains records of more than 148,000 wrecks at the time of this writing. A large number of shipwrecks are historically significant and protected under UNESCO as underwater cultural heritage. Many are abandoned and remain either submerged or grounded near beaches, sometimes gracefully, sometimes not, rotting under the elements of nature. Some of them have turned into tourist attractions because of the many photographic opportunities they offer.

The most recent shipwreck that acquired much media attention was Costa Concordia that turned turtle in the waters near Isola del Giglio, on the western coast of Italy, in January 2012. The capsized ship drew thousands of eager tourist to the area. Salvaging operations were started on mid-2013 and are still on, and it won’t be long before the ship is towed out of the bay.