Southern States - Kerala   

Restoration of Thaikkal ship may be delayed

By A. Harikumar

ALAPPUZHA NOV. 1. Delay in preparing a project on the future of the centuries-old ship excavated at Thaikkal in the district recently may prove a hindrance to its preservation, Hans Zaadnoordijk, a Dutch expert on the restoration of excavated ships, has said.

Speaking to The Hindu at Samudra Shipyard, Aroor, here today, Mr. Zaadnoordijk, who is also the advisor to Netherlands' Management Cooperation Programme, a joint project of the Governments of India and Netherlands, said a solid plan on how to utilise the excavated ship was to be prepared if the Government wanted to find sponsors for the project.

The excavation of the ship had been completed a few months ago but the ship, at present, is lying in water-filled marsh at Thaikkal. The artefacts recovered from the ship have been removed to another place by the State Archaeological Department.

Mr. Zaadnoordijk said raising the ship from the place where it was preserved for centuries might cause damage to it. Sometimes it would be better to leave it at the place rather than transporting it to another place as it might disintegrate, he said.

He said the recovery and proper restoration of the ship at Thaikkal would cost around $ 1 million. He opined that according to the latest technology being practised in the West, big ships, like the one discovered at Thaikkal, were first dissected into two and then rejoined and restored to the original structure. Mr. Zaadnoordijk said it was for the Government to decide where to preserve the excavated ship. But according to the international laws on the preservation of historic objects, the excavated ship should be preserved at the place where it was excavated, he said. It could be removed to other places only if all the attempts on preserving it at the excavated site failed, Mr. Zaadnoordijk said.

He said many foreign sponsors would be interested to take up the restoration of the ship as it was found that the ship was built more than 1,000 years ago. He said the authorities of the Archaeological Department had told him that a plan on the future preservation of the ship was on the anvil. Mr. Zaadnoordijk said there was scope for Dutch aid for the project.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Global business meet at Kochi in February
• Ezhuthachan award for T. Padmanabhan
• Curbs on coop. socities opposed
• 'High command failed in solving crisis'
• Restoration of Thaikkal ship may be delayed
• Call to support religious reformers
• Kollam city suffers from traffic blight
• Administrative language celebrations begin
• Muthanga: CBI probing police 'excesses'
• Metropolitan for conscience vote in polls

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu