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Transfer of Phoenician ships in Mazarron may have to wait until summer 2024
Technicians doubt that they will be able to extract the Phoenician ship from Mazarrón this summer when conditions are ripe
The long-standing project to extract the ancient Phoenician ship from the seabed of Playa de La Isla in Mazarrón and keep it for conservation purposes at either Cartagena’s National Museum of Marine Archaeology (ARQVA) or at a specially built premises in Mazarrón has stalled once again due to red tape.
Technicians from the University of Valencia who were to take on this Herculean task have expressed their doubts as to whether they will be able to go ahead this summer as hoped, because they are waiting on a new feasibility study by the Ministry of Culture and the Autonomous Community.
The Ministry says, “Before the extraction of the wreck can be envisaged, it is necessary to carry out the relevant research that the University of Valencia is going to undertake in order to find out what the situation of the ship is. This is a fundamental step in order to subsequently evaluate whether it is possible to undertake its extraction.”
All eyes are on Mazarrón over this issue as this archaeological rescue project will, if successful, become a landmark worldwide for the safeguarding of underwater heritage.
The wreck of the Phoenician ship ‘Mazarrón II’, which dates back to the 6th or 7th century BC, was discovered in 1994 and is now housed inside a kind of sarcophagus underwater to keep it safe.
The specialists working to save it currents and other influences that could cause decay under the water had hoped to begin preliminary work in the middle of June to update their documents and write the necessary reports to transfer the ship to an indoor location where it could be better preserved.
This data-collection work will involve diving into the waters of La Isla beach and could last for a fortnight. Using this data, they will be able to draw up an estimated budget, at which time the powers that be will decide whether to go ahead with the extraction project or not.
If that were the case, and the project is eventually given the green light, it would not be until after this summer, when the sea conditions are prime for extracting the ship, and they would have to wait until summer 2024.
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