Kuakata 'ship' lifted safely from its sandy grave

Bodiar Rahman (in red T-shirt), head of a specialised workers' team from Nagarbari, poses with his colleagues as the second phase of the operation to salvage this historic ship at Kuakata beach saw successful completion on Tuesday. PHOTO: Wassama Doja

Experts have completed the second phase of the salvage operation by lifting the ancient Kuakata 'ship' to a safer height from its grave.
Upper parts of the ancient sailing ship surfaced from beneath the beach in July last year during low tide, prompting the Department of Archaeology to take steps to salvage and preserve it.
Yves Marre, French born Bangladeshi and an expert on traditional boats, also the head of the technical team for the salvage operation, said the 90-tonne wooden ship would be directly taken to the site of the museum from its current elevated location.
“It has taken us over a week to lift it from its grave to the surface where it will be safe from the rising water and sand,” said Yves. “In the mean time we shall have to procure proper equipment to carry the ship to the designated museum site with all the artifacts we found on board,” he added.
The officials and archaeologists of the Department of Archaeology working at the salvage site said that never before in the history of the country did the department participate in such a salvage operation.
“We are facing challenge at every step and the acute shortage of proper equipment to move the heavy ship is becoming a huge challenge for the salvage team,” said Afroza Khan Mita, assistant director of the department.
In the first few days of the salvation work, workers painstakingly removed the huge volume of sand and sticky soil from the hull of the ship. As soon as the hull was cleared, experts declared that in fact the ship resembled a schooner, a sailing ship with multiple masts used in the 17th century by the western countries. The schooner was known for its elegance and speed at the time. The team of rescuers also recovered arrays of artefacts from the site.
A team of about 40 specialised men from Nagarbari, headed by a traditional boat specialist and carpenter Bodiar Jamal, is assisting the salvage team since February 15.
Yves said that the height in which the 70-foot-long and 23-foot-wide ship has been elevated and solidly supported underneath, it is safe from invasion of rising sea water and sand.
“Now we have to look for proper equipment to salvage and carry it to its final resting place which is now being designated by the authorities in Dhaka,” said Yves.
The finding of the ship has already become the talk of the region. Every day hundreds of people are visiting the salvage site, about three kilometres east of Kuakata Zero Point.
The Local Government Engineering Department, which has prepared the master plan of Kuakata, has already allocated a piece of land for a museum in Kuakata where the ancient ship with all its artefacts will be preserved. Thousands of visitors are expected to visit the museum.