The exploration of the part of the hull which had emerged from the water started on the 1 May 1929. The supervision of this activity was undertaken by Prof. G. Cultrera and immediatedly objects of great interest came to light. The particular circumstances of the excavation did not allow for the comlete emergence of the ship prior to work beginning according to the classical procedure of excavation of complete layers. However, measures were taken to ensure the best preservation of every object found, photographs were taken of every detail and detailed drawings were draughted of the objects before removal of the material belonging originally to the superstructure. The joking threat which had hung over the head of Prof. Pietro Fedele, who as Minister of Education, had personally been made responsible for the existence of the ships, no longer had any reason to be and the life of the minister was "safe." As already said objects were found from the very beginning of the excavation but on 4 June 1929 the first bronze was found. The snarling head of a wolf which adorned the end of a beam, was a truly magnificent masterpiece of both artistic stylisation and realistic representation and made those present, think of the previous words of Ugo Ojetti who had said that should a new bronze similar to the one of 1895 be found, this in itself would have justified the whole enterprise. Ugo Ojetti himself, who came down to the lake on the 5 July commented, " From the road, the workers and supervisors, all crowded around the bones of the ship which is already on dry land for about 30 metres of its length, seem like ants around the skeleton of an animal."
Two days before a beam nearly 12 metres long of a circular section had been found which was later recognised as being the shaft of a rudder. It tapered towards one end and at the other was capped by a large bronze collar about 40 cm in diameter in the form of a lion's head.