Archaeologists Recover 2500-Year-Old Phoenician Shipwreck from Underwater

A group of Spanish archaeologists has prepared detailed charts of a 2500-year-old sunken Phoenician ship to find the best method to recover this ancient vessel from the sea before a storm destroys it forever. According to Reuters, the eight-meter-long 'Masaron 2', named after the region in southeastern Spain in Murcia where it was found, is a unique piece of ancient maritime engineering. By the end of this year, experts will recommend how to protect and recover the shipwreck from underwater, likely to be carried out in early next summer. Carlos de Juan, an archaeologist from the Marine Archaeology Institute of the University of Valencia, who coordinates the project, stated that the ship could be taken apart from areas that already have cracks and seams and reassembled like a puzzle. He told Reuters, 'Rescuing the ship, restoring it, and displaying it in a museum for people to enjoy makes more sense than worrying about its destruction every time a big storm comes.' The Phoenicians, who lived in the coastal areas of present-day Lebanon and Syria, established colonies and trading posts across the Mediterranean from 1500 to 300 BC. Historians have used the 'Masaron 2' ship, likely built around 580 BC, to record how metals like lead were transported from the Iberian Peninsula. After sinking, the ship remained buried under sediment for over two thousand years until changes in ocean currents caused by construction along the coasts brought it to the surface about 30 years ago. This 2500-year-old ship is now located about 1.7 meters deep in the clear Mediterranean water, surrounded by sandbags and a metal structure built for its protection. The metal structure is sinking into the sand faster than the shipwreck, posing a risk of crushing the remains, thus parts of it needed to be removed.