The aim of the oceanographic cruise SAND15 is the search for relict sandy deposits on the continental shelf of the Ionian and Adriatic sector of the Apulia region to be used for the artificial beaches nourishment of the Apulian coast, as part of the service financed by the Puglia Basin Authority. In Italy, many sites are using artificial coastal nourishment techniques as defense strategies, to compensate for the deficit in the sedimentary balance due to coastal erosion. In this perspective, the most suitable solution is the mining of relict sandy deposits present on continental shelves. These in fact, due to the large quantity, the mineralogical and textural similarity with respect to the sediment of the coasts to be reconstructed and the lack of alternative uses, represent the only deposits that allow massive nourishment interventions, the only ones capable of significantly modifying the erosive/depositional structure of entire coastal areas.