Bulgarian and US scientists will study an ancient ship with a cargo of amphorae on the bed of the Black Sea off the Bulgarian coastal city of Varna. The government in Sofia is expected to issue Thursday a license for a two-year archeological research under an international interdisciplinarian scientific project studying Bulgarian waters.

The main goal of the project is geological research but it is also paired by archeological expeditions hoped to discover submerged pre-historic, antique or mediaeval settlements, havens, and vessels.

Under the project, the Archeological Institute in Sofia partners the Institute of Archaeological Oceanography at the Graduate School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island, and the Institute of Exploration, Sea Research Foundation in Mystic, Connecticut.

The sides have agreed that the conservation and restoration of the archeological finds will be carried out in Bulgaria. The objects discovered by the multinational team will be delivered for manipulations following the end of the expeditions for each year to the scientific labs with the Bulgarian Academy of Science or to other labs preferred by the US explorers.

The final monographic publication on the subaquatic research will be compiled by all members of the team - Bulgarians and Americans. The paper is agreed to appear no later than five years following the conclusion of the under-water works.

The US partners are required to secure the full financing of the project as well as technical equipment and competent specialists to handle the scientific gear.

However, the government in Sofia has stipulated that all archeological finds produced by the joint research are the property of the Republic of Bulgaria and would remain in the country.

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