16th International Symposium on Boat & Ship Archaeology

106 16 th International Symposium on Boat & Ship Archaeology Constantinos Nicolaou 1 , Stella Demestiha 1 , Kostas Damianidis 2 , Irene Katsouri 1 , Massimiliano Secci 1 , Georgios Tzavaras 2 , Marina Faka 3 & Dante Abate 3 1 University of Cyprus, Cyprus 2 Institute of Mediterranean Studies, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH), Greece 3 The Cyprus Institute, Aglantzia, Cyprus Documenting a 20 th century wooden vessel at risk: the Agios Spyridon project Agios Spyridon was a 24-m long wooden vessel, built in 1950 in Crete. It was reg- istered in Cyprus in 1954 and was used as a fishing trawler until 2004, when it was withdrawn according to EU Fishing Policy. The boat was preserved as a monument of the local cultural heritage. This plan was never materialized, however, and in 2018 the Municipal Council of Polis Chrysochous / CY decided that the vessel, which had remained out of the sea for 15 years without any maintenance, should be destroyed for safety and aesthetic reasons. Despite all efforts to the contrary, the loss of the monument was unavoidable. In order to mitigate the consequenc- es, the Maritime Archaeological Research Laboratory of the University of Cyprus (MARELab), in collaboration with the Cyprus Institute and with the support of the Honor Frost Foundation, initiated a project of controlled destruction and detailed recording, in 2019, the first of its kind in the eastern Mediterranean. Following a rescue excavation approach, every phase of the vessel’s dis- mantling was fully recorded, using both conventional and digital methods: a 3D model was produced with photogrammetry and laser scanning, whereas 2D ar- chitectural drawings were also used for the analysis of the structural elements of the hull. The project also included activities for raising public awareness of the importance of historic ships and vernacular shipbuilding, and critical parts, such as the engine and the fishing gear, were preserved for further study and a possible future exhibition. This paper is a preliminary report of this multifaceted project, and discuss- es the main phases of the project, all related with the protection and preserva- tion of Maritime Cultural Heritage of the recent past. Methodological and logistic challenges are also discussed, with a focus on the potential of digital tools for a comprehensive recording of ships at risk.