A team of researchers has recently found remains of a centuries-old shipwreck more than a mile below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of North Carolina. The team made the discovery when they were searching for a mooring they had left behind on a 2012 research trip.

The team said in a statement that the remains they discovered recently can be from the late 18th or early 19th century. The artifacts the team spotted on the ocean floor include a metal compass, an iron chain, glass bottles, a ceramic jug, ship timbers, red bricks and a navigational tool.

The team researchers said in a statement that they found the shipwreck when their sonar-scanning system suddenly detected a dark area on the ocean floor. Thereafter they used Alvin, a manned submersible, to locate the wreck on July 12.

Group leader Cindy Van Dover, director of the Duke University Marine Laboratory, said, "This is an exciting find, and a vivid reminder that even with major advances in our ability to access and explore the ocean, the deep sea holds its secrets close".

The team went for their expedition aboard Atlantis, a research ship from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Researchers said they also used an autonomous underwater vehicle, called Sentry, to help locate the wreck.

The team was successful in discovering a rare piece of maritime history, but they were unsuccessful in finding the abandoned mooring remains.

The artifacts collected from the ocean have been handed over to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

NOAA will try to identify the ship and date the artifacts, which have been preserved by the near-freezing temperatures of the ocean's depths.