Around 40 shipwrecked vessels dating from world war two have been discovered off the coast of Lampedusa, the tiny Italian island between Sicily and Tunisia. The discoveries were made between 20 and 100 nautical miles from the island's coast, at a depth ranging from 33 to 140 metres, reports news agency ANSA.

The ships, all sunk during attacks in the second world war, were mostly merchant vessels carrying cargoes of war supplies, from artillery and explosives to army trucks and tanks. Among them is the wreckage of the Egadi cargo ship, used for carrying mail and passengers to small islands off the western coast of Sicily, reports state broadcaster RAI.