A shipwreck discovered by a diver on the Goodwin Sands near Deal will be at the centre of an urgent archaeological project this summer.

Dutch East Indiaman the Rooswijk will be researched and partially excavated by an international team based in Ramsgate from July to October.

The ship had been on its way to the East Indies with valuable cargo including silver ingots and coinage when it sank on the sandbank on January 8, 1740.

Spectacles recovered in 2005 from the Rooswijk

There were no survivors.

The wreck is now at risk from currents and shifting sands.

The project, run by the Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency in partnership with Historic England, involves mapping the ship and securing any archaeological material.

Spanish coins found in the Rooswijk wreck from 2005

Heritage minister Tracey Crouch says the excavation project will safeguard important material for future generations, develop underwater research and support the new Ramsgate Heritage Action Zone initiative, which looks to attract investment to the area using local heritage.

She said: “The shipwrecks that dot the British coast are unique pieces of maritime heritage and windows into Europe’s seafaring history.”

The wreck is of enormous value to archaeologists to help them better understand that period of seafaring history.

A drawing of a ship similar to the Rooswijk by Adolf van der Laan in 1716. Picture: Collection of the Fries Scheepvaart Museum

There are a total of 250 Dutch East India Company shipwrecks, of which only a third have been located, and never before has such a wreck been researched or excavated scientifically on this scale.

Dutch minister Jet Bussemaker says the information the team can gather will be valuable in describing that period in history.