Officials on Monday began salvaging a celadon-laden Goryeo Dynasty transport ship found late last month off Daeseom Island near Taean in South Chungcheong Province.

The Cultural Heritage Administration's marine relics exhibition center says the excavation will continue to the end of November using specialized vessels for underwater salvage.

The administration says that when the transport ship's structure and its celadon storage method is uncovered, it will be critical to the study of Goryeo era seaways and porcelain.

The ship has yielded 720 pieces of relics so far. Cultural heritage officials believe that some eight thousand more could remain at the wreckage site.