Kuakata boat looks like schooner

Rescuers of the 'ancient boat' in Kuakata, Patuakhali have finally lifted the 'small ocean going ship like schooner'. Their next challenge is to shift it to a proposed museum in the area.Photo: STAR

Experts now believe that the “ancient boat” that surfaced from beneath the Kuakata beach in July last year was probably a small ocean going ship similar to a 'schooner' used by the Western traders in the 17th century.
Schooner was a two-sailed ship well known for its elegance and speed.
Earlier the workers at the site painstakingly removed the sand and sticky soil from the hull of the ship.
Yves Marre, a French born Bangladeshi expert in traditional boat heading the salvage team, said that close examination of the ship's structure reveals striking resemblance with schooner, a rigged vessel with fore and aft sails on its masts.
“We are amazed by the architectural shapes of the remains of the hull and can imagine the beauty of the entire ship,” said Yves.
Yves added that drawings would be made with advanced naval architectural software to find out the probable shape of the entire ship.
“We will also compare the remains with other such ships at naval museum archives and look into the records of former trading companies to try and find out if any ship was reported missing,” he said.
The workers also unearthed pieces of artifacts including a 200- foot- long chain, used for anchoring. The anchor so far remains missing. The hull on the outer side of the ship is entirely covered with a strong copper sheet to protect the heavy wooden structure from erosion.
“Now our challenge lies in moving the 72 feet long and 23 feet wide ship to a safer place nearby,” said Yves. “Then we shall make our plans to move it to the designated site of the museum,” he added.
“With proper research and tests of the artifacts, we shall try to learn more about the ship,” said Afroza Khan Mita, Assistant Director, Department of Archaeology and a member of the rescue team.
After frantic efforts for over a week and fighting a series of odds, the team of rescuers has finally lifted the ship, weighing over 50 tons.
During low tides, the rescuers used traditional pulleys first to dislodge the grip of the hull from the sand and sticky soil about six feet below the surface. Then mechanical pulleys were used to lift the extremely heavy wooden boat to the level of the surface.
With furious high tides threatening to crush the man-made barriers and chronic shortage of proper equipment, the rescue team were facing fresh challenges to their every move to salvage the ship.
While the Patuakhali district administration is helping the salvage operation with whatever local resources available, the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) under the local government and rural development ministry is now working to earmark a land for setting up a museum in Kuakata to house the ancient ship with all its artifacts.
Hundreds of local people and tourists coming to Kuakata are visiting the salvage site of the ship about three kilometres East of Kuakata's zero point. Motorbikers are also making brisk business ferrying people to the site, where dozens of specialised workers are toiling to lift the ship to a safer site.
Mohammad Jalil, a young motorbike driver who makes a living by transporting people, said that the museum was sure to add a unique aspect to Kuakata as a tourist spot.
“We are already carrying hundreds of people every day who want to have a glimpse of the ship while it is being rescued and when it is kept in a museum, I can assure you, it will attract thousands more,” said Jalil.