Aurora Trust has been asked by the Sicilian Government to carry out a search survey and recovery of what they believe to be a ship carrying bronze statues dating from as early as 200 to 300 BCE. Or it could be a ship carrying bronze statues and other stolen treasures looted in the 5th century A.D.by Genserico, King of the Vandals.

If the wreck is of the 200 to 300 BCE era then the statues could be the works of the famous Greek sculptor, Praxiteles, who was described by Pliny the Elder, the Roman writer, in his Naturalis Historia.

In 1998, a bronze statue was dredged up by a fisherman. It is called the Dancing Satyr of Mazara del Vallo because the fisherman who found it was from Mazara and is currently in a museum solely dedicated to the statue.

Bronze statues of this kind are very rare to find on land because bronze was such an expensive and exotic material. Conquerors melted down stolen and captured statues and recast them into statue of their own gods and likes. Most remaining bronze statues found today are ones recovered from the sea. The ship of the Dancing Satyrs may be a treasure trove.

Aurora Trust is seeking sponsorship to fund a mission during the summer of 2016 to survey and recover what is expected to be a ship full of bronze statues. If the wreck yields the cargo of bronze statues that is thought to be on board this could be the biggest find since King Tut.

Aurora will organize and oversee the entire operation in partnership with the Superintendent of the Seas of Sicily, who will provide the GPS location and the archeologists.

Several groups including Bob Ballard have looked for the site, but they did not have the GPS locations.

Sponsors will be able to participate in the expedition and dive in a three-man sub on the sites during the exploration. The entire project will receive an immense amount of international publicity and recognition, both before, during and after.