UNESCO recognition being sought for Bou Ferrer wreckage

THE Roman galley sunk off the Villajoyosa coast could be included in Unesco’s Register of Best Safeguarding Practices.

This Register allows countries and communities to share successful safeguarding experiences and describe how they surmounted difficulties in handing on their practices and knowledge to future generations.

Named Bou Ferrer after the two local divers who discovered the wreck in 1999, the 30-metre long merchant vessel was last year declared an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC).  The spot where it lies, 25 metres below the surface, is now a protected archaeological site.

The Generalitat hopes Unesco will include the site owing to its excellent state of preservation and the carefully monitored investigations carried out there.

Investigators believe the vessel sailed from Cadiz, bound for one of Rome’s ports, laden with 2,500 amphorae of garum fish sauce, and around five tons of lead ingots.

It foundered roughly one kilometre from Villajoyosa’s beaches between 50 and 60 AD, probably taking shelter during bad weather.