(ANSAmed) - ISTANBUL - A recent underwater excavation in the Turkish port of Urla uncovered a ship estimated to date back 4,000 years, which experts say would make it the oldest sunken ship to have been discovered in the Mediterranean, as Anadolu Agency reported.



Professor Hayat Erkanal, the head of Limantepe excavations for the underwater ancient city of Klozemenai and director of ANKUSAM, said the port dates back to the seventh century BC. Klozemenai, he explained, was a coastal town, making it the home of many sunken ships from different eras. An earthquake in the eighth century left the city underwater. He said the team is currently working to determine the features and correct age of its most recent shipwreck find.



There are two other sunken boats that compete for the title of the world's oldest, Erkanal said. The Uluburun shipwreck, found off the coast of Kas, is around 3,500 years old, while the sunken ship of Hatshepsut, the fifth pharaoh of Ancient Egypt's 18th dynasty, is dated to be around 150 years older. "If we confirm that the sunken ship (we have found) is 4,000 years old, it will be a very important milestone for archaeology," Erkanal said. Erkanal said materials removed from seawater must be cleaned of salt to prevent further decay. This process is conducted in a large restoration and conservation laboratory at the recently opened Mustafa Vehbi Koc Maritime Archaeology Research Center and Archaeopark.



The process of removing a sunken ship from the water can take approximately seven to eight years, Erkanal said. (ANSAmed).

