The divers descended 410 feet into dark Mediterranean waters off Italy, their lights revealing the skeleton of a ship that sank thousands of years ago when Rome was a world power. A sea-crusted anchor rested on a rock. The ship's cargo lay scattered amid piles of terra cotta jars, called amphora.

The Maersk Triple E is the largest ship ever built, the pride and joy of the largest shipping company in the world. The ship was a huge hit with the public last year when it docked in Copenhagen for a week, 50,000 people visited, tours were given and an exhibition about the boat was made. It towered above the Copenhagen skyline, and like most of the rest of the population of Copenhagen I went down for a look at this monumental machine.

Canadian coast guards have attached a tow line to a Russian container ship drifting without power in rough seas off British Columbia. The Simushir cargo ship is carrying hundreds of tons of fuel, prompting fears it could run aground and cause a spill along the pristine coast.

It's difficult to hide from an enemy when you're inside an enormous ship, or part of a vast Naval fleet. And yet many ships in history have been well-camouflaged, despite a distinct lack of cloaking devices. Here are some of the most amazing examples.

Since sponge divers discovered it in 1900, the ancient Antikythera shipwreck -- a massive Greek vessel that sank more than 2,000 years ago in the Aegean Sea -- has captivated archaeologists.

Vietnamese authorities are searching for an oil tanker feared to have been taken by pirates just 40 minutes after it departed Singapore for Vietnam

Naval ships fire warning shots after North Korean patrol boat crosses disputed sea border, South Korean officials say.

A VIETNAMESE cargo ship with 18 crew carrying more than 5000 tonnes of oil has gone missing in waters between Malaysia and Indonesia, an official says.

A helicopter appeared in the sky over the North Sea. It was 7 a.m. on a Wednesday this summer, and the helicopter circled in a wide arc before hovering above a ship traveling south at about 15 knots. At more than 1,300 feet long, the ship, the Mary Maersk, was hard to miss. It is longer than the Eiffel Tower is high, and the Mary and its sister ships are the biggest container ships in the world.

IT’S an area shrouded in mystery with stories of unexplained disappearances and strange happenings. So its no wonder that Bermuda is also home to one of the biggest shipwreck sites in the world.

Two container ships collided on Monday morning in Egypt's Suez Canal, reported Al-Ahram's Arabic news website.

How shipping containers made distance irrelevant.

At least 29 people are missing after a ferry sank in the waters off the central Philippines in bad weather Saturday, the government's civil defense office said. A rescue operation is ongoing off the southeast coast following the sinking of the MV Maharlika, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

Amazon got the biggest headlines for its drone delivery plans, but it's an idea that's catching on across the shipping industry. At a nautical trade fair in Hamburg this week, the shipping research firm DNV GL revealed designs for a new electric vessel that would ferry cargo with zero crew members — roughly the nautical equivalent of Amazon's automated delivery drones.

One of the most famous ships lost in the 19th century has been located in the Arctic, the Canadian government announced Tuesday, prompting Prime Minister Stephen Harper to declare that "one of Canada's greatest mysteries" has been solved.

It's easy to get pessimistic about the state of the oceans. Coral reefs are dying. Various fish species are getting wiped out by overfishing. Jellyfish are taking over. But not all news is bad news. A recent study published in Marine Mammal Science found that blue whale populations off the coast of California have almost entirely rebounded after being nearly hunted to extinction in the 20th century. (Many thanks to Andrew Revkin for pointing out this study.)

New islands are being made in the disputed South China Sea by the might of the Chinese state. But a group of marooned Filipinos on a rusting wreck is trying to stand in the way.

One of two British explorer ships that vanished in the Arctic more than 160 years ago has been found.

By 2035 the world’s cargo will be carried by 200m fully automated vessels operating entirely without an onboard human crew, according to researchers. Carrying food and minerals, such ships will be safer, more environmentally friendly and cheaper to operate than current cargo vessels, according to members of MUNIN, a European Union-funded research project aiming to make unmanned cargo ships a reality.