ANTALYA, Turkey 

A merchant ship some 3,600 years old has been found off Turkey’s Mediterranean coast.

The 14-meter (46-foot) shipwreck loaded with copper ingots was discovered by an underwater research team from Akdeniz University in Antalya, southern Turkey.

Antalya Governor Munir Karaoglu hailed the discovery as a “breakthrough” in underwater archaeology.

“It is a wreck dating back to 1600 BC. We’re talking about a 3,600-year-old wreck,” Karaoglu told a press conference.

“The length of the ship is 14 meters. The weight of copper ingots that it carries is 1.5 tons,” he added.

“This is also a ship carrying the earliest industrial products in the world," he said. "These features make it a breakthrough in scholarship."

The ship is believed to have sunk due to a storm it hit while sailing to the island of Crete or the Aegean Sea.

* Writing by Nilay Kar Onum