A Bronze Age wreck and ancient open-sea navigation

What could the reported 3,300-year-old wreck near Israel tell us about ancient navigation?

If the early reports hold up, the wreck supports the view that ancient mariners sometimes navigated well away from land instead of only coasting between ports.

The reported 3,300-year-old wreck and its cargo of storage jars were still under investigation. Its position offshore supports the possibility that Bronze Age mariners crossed open water instead of moving only between visible landmarks. The Mediterranean's geography limits the risk of accidentally entering a much larger ocean, making deliberate passages beyond sight of land plausible. Greek, Roman, and Carthaginian accounts also describe fleets travelling offshore and remaining at sea overnight. Taken together, the find and these written accounts challenge assumptions that ancient navigators were incapable of such voyages.