This year's "Return to Antikythera" program investigation in the marine area of the wreck of Antikythera highlighted fresh archaeological discoveries, such as tiny pieces of sculpture and early Byzantine vessel fragments, while revealing new details about the condition of preservation of the ship's hull.

The third phase of the five-year "Return to Antikythera" study program (2021-2025) took place from May 19 to June 18, 2023. Divers, seabed technicians, diving archaeologists, and scientists from various fields, including geologists, chemists, and physicists, all participated in the research project. The primary objective of this year's research was to investigate new areas of the wreck while also performing a stratigraphic investigation of it and its cargo. It should be highlighted that the research changed focus from finding and recovering artifacts for the sake of their conservation, protection, and upcoming exhibition to resolving issues that had previously occurred.

The seabed's downward morphology and the size of the ship's sinking area prevented a stratigraphic description of the wreck's condition until recently. The stratigraphic evidence that surfaced this year revealed fresh information about the state of preservation of the ship's hull and improved our knowledge of both its path and the circumstances of its sinking.

In the year 2022, huge rocks were moved carefully at a depth of 43 to 46 meters, and marble objects were lifted, including the base of a statue and the head of a Hercules, which appears to belong to the Farnese headless marble statue of Hercules of the National Archaeological Museum that had been raised in 1901 by the Symia spongers. This made excavation work in the eastern part of the wreck extremely difficult.

This year, a section of the size (2x2 m) was finished in accordance with the stratigraphic evidence, and the following was discovered: Early discoveries included human remains, potentially from multiple shipwrecks, as well as a variety of other items typical of a shipwreck, including pieces of glass and clay pots as well as numerous nails coated in wood. Little fragments of sculpture also surfaced during the same period. The first could be caused by a comb or a beard, while the second is still unidentified. The discovery of some early Byzantine vessel fragments, whose existence concerned the experts, is a fascinating fact that confirms the idea that this marine region served as a shipping route for ships over the ages. The discovery within a portion of a thick concretion layer, which seals this year's investigation,

A digital and three-dimensional impression was created throughout the inquiry. A database with Geographical Information System (GIS) data has been created that contains digital representations of all archaeological discoveries. All discoveries have been entered in this database, starting with those made between 1900 and 1901. In order to support the research, a field analysis laboratory equipped with tools for micromorphological field observations was built on the island.

Under the joint direction of Lorenz E. Baumer, a professor of classical archeology at the University of Geneva, and current archaeologist Angeliki G. Simosi, Director of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Piraeus and the Islands, the Swiss Archaeological School in Greece is conducting underwater research in Antikythera. The Ephorate of Marine Antiquities supervises the research under the direction of diving architects Aikaterinis Tagonidou and Athena Patsourou.

Due to his vast expertise in challenging operations, Vice Admiral (retired) Alexandros Palatianos was chosen to be in charge of the investigation's smooth operation, while University of Geneva scholar Alexandros Sotiriou was chosen to serve as the investigation's field director.

The team also includes eight divers from the Coast Guard's Underwater Missions Unit (Specialized Diving Team), diving archaeologists Orestis Manousos and Isaac Ogloblin, seabed technicians Nikos Giannoulakis, Charalambos Mitrou, and Dimitris Romios, and diving historians Orestis Manousos and Isaac Ogloblin.

While the on-site workshop was organized by Isaac Ogloblin (University of Haifa), with the participation of professors Maria Louloudis and Yiannis Deligiannakis (University of Ioannina), and with the support of Yiannis B. Itsaki, Patrizia Birchler-Emery and Timothy Pönitz (University of Geneva) handled the documentation of the archaeological finds, the creation of the 3D models, and the updating of the GIS (University of Geneva and Nereus Research Foundation). The Natural History Museum of Crete's geologist, Charalambos Fasoulas, traveled to Antikythera to investigate the geological information on the crash site.

The Aikaterinis Laskaridis Foundation, Swiss watchmaker Hublot, and the Nereus Research Foundation all contribute to the research program, while Cosmote handles the communications.

The mayor of Kythira, Efstratios Charchalakis, deserves special recognition for his unwavering support as well as for the kind hospitality shown to the last few people of Antikythira.

The S.A. of the President of the Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, oversees the research program.