A group of Christian researchers claimed on Tuesday they have found the remains of Noah’s Ark, located four kilometres up the side of Turkey’s Mt. Ararat.

The famed mount is the biblical docking point of the vessel, which carried Noah, his family and representatives of all the world’s animals safely while God flooded the Earth. In the Book of Genesis, the ark is said to have come to rest in the “mountains of Ararat.”

Explorers, adventurers and mystics have sought the ark for centuries, poring over the mountain range which straddles the Turkish border with Armenia.

Now a group called Noah’s Ark Ministries International says they’ve found the ship’s wreckage.

“It's not 100 per cent that it is Noah's Ark, but we think it is 99.9 per cent that this is it,” researcher Yeung Wing-Cheung told Agence-France Presse.

The researchers and a film crew have apparently uncovered wooden beams and compartments they say housed the animals. Carbon dating has proven the structure to be 4,800 years old, Yeung said, which gibes with the literal biblical timeline of the flood. He also says the group has ruled out a human settlement at the dig site.

The group is said to have asked Turkish officials to apply to UNESCO so that the excavation can be granted world heritage status while it is explored.

Many explorers have sought the ark. Several have claimed to discover it. None of these claims has been proved out.