A few miles off the shores of the Aegadian Islands, in the stretch of water that separates the islands of Favignana and Marettimo, a fisherman called Peppe Abbione discovered a treasure. On board his fishing boat, fully equipped for catching lobsters, he came across the first shipwreck of Arab origin ever found in Sicilian waters. He immediately informed the Archaeological Superintendency of Trapani, which decided to organize a scuba diving team to visit the wreck and make all the preliminary surveys necessary to identify the cargo.