Diggers at the Ground Zero WTC building site found something interesting on Tuesday — the 10-meter hull of an old ship:

"The vessel was probably used along with other debris to fill in land to extend lower Manhattan into the Hudson river, archaeologists have said.

It was hoped the artefact could be retrieved by the end of today, said archaeologist Molly McDonald. A boat specialist was going to the Ground Zero site to examine the find.

McDonald said she wanted to at least salvage some timbers; it was unclear if any large portions could be lifted intact.

"We're mostly clearing it by hand because it's fragile," she said. Construction equipment may be used later in the process…A 45kg (100lb) anchor was found a few yards from the hull on Wednesday but the experts are not sure if it belongs to the ship. The anchor was about a metre across, McDonald said.

The archaeologists are racing to record and analyse the vessel before exposure to air makes the delicate wood deteriorate."