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Date Published: 16/01/2025

Mazarrón places itself as world leader in underwater archaeology following extraction of Phoenician shipwreck

The regional President has highlighted the historical and scientific significance of the removal of the shipwreck from the seabed

Fernando López Miras, the President of the Region of Murcia, has highlighted the “great historical and scientific scope” of the project to extract the Phoenician shipwreck from the Mazarrón seabed. Mr Miras said he was very pleased by the national and international recognition that the work has garnered over the past few months and the excellent work that was carried out by the teams involved in the removal of the shipwreck from the seabed.

The President continued to praise the work done, by stating that the work has placed “Mazarrón, Cartagena and the Region of Murcia as world exponents of underwater archaeology.” These comments were recorded during a visit to the National Museum of Underwater Archaeology (ARQVA) in Cartagena, where he was accompanied by the Minister for Culture, Ernest Urtasun, who has taken a keen interest in the project and the progress of the work.

It was stressed by those present that the goal now of the Mazarrón Phoenician shipwreck project is to present it in such a way so that it can be viewed by all the people who want to see it in the best possible setting. The work involved thus far has been extremely delicate and has been carried out by the top professionals in Spain in the field of underwater archaeology.

López Miras stated that “we are proud” of the work of the extraction of the shipwreck, and the process in which “all decisions were based on what was most appropriate according to the assessments of the scientists”.

The extraction itself took place between September and November of last year, in a process that took place without incident and which was highly applauded. Since 2018, the Region of Murcia government, in collaboration with the National Museum of Underwater Archaeology, has developed archaeological interventions to monitor and control the state of conservation of the wreck before finally deciding that in 2021 the shipwreck should be rescued from the seabed to insure its safety.

The community then commissioned a comprehensive project for the extraction and conservation of the shipwreck, which was drawn up by an experienced team of nautical and underwater archaeologists who specialised in engineering and underwater operations.

The total cost of the project was 350,000 euros, paid for by the taxpayer. The project was led by the principal investigator Carlos de Juan in collaboration with the technical staff of ARQVA. The whole staff involved in the extraction of the ship have been applauded for their work from the start of the operation until now.

The Ministry of Culture has now pledged to invest a further 1.2 million euros over the next five years to fully recover and preserve the vessel.