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Maritime Museum Plan Runs Aground, Threatening Nation’s Oldest Known Ship
September 16, 2010

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Rembang, Central Java. A funding shortfall has threatened to sink the planned development of a maritime museum — set to be the biggest museum in the country — in Punjulharjo village in the Central Java district of Rembang.

Preservationists say the museum, which would be built around the remains of the oldest-ever ship to be discovered in the archipelago, requires five hectares of land.

The ship, however, was discovered on private property, and finding money to purchase the land has proved difficult.

The Rembang Historical Society, the main group behind the museum, said the local government had agreed to purchase the land needed for the project.

“However, the government could only provide enough money to acquire one hectare,” Edy Winarno, head of the society, said on Thursday. “We are hoping to bring this to the attention of the central government.”

Villagers discovered the 1,200-year-old vessel on July 26, 2008, as they were digging a pond in what had been a coconut grove. Carbon dating tests performed in the United States suggested the ship was built in the seventh century.

Measuring 47 meters long and 15.2 meters at its widest point, the hull of the ship was found at a depth of about 1.5 meters, about 200 yards inland.

Among the wooden remnants were a stone statue of a woman’s head with distinctive Chinese facial features, human bones and a few kitchen appliances.

Archeologists have said the ship dates back to the ancient Mataram kingdom in Central Java. It predates the Buddhist Borobudur Temple in Magelang, Central Java, by about two centuries

At the end of 2008, the Yogyakarta Archeology Center, which had been investigating the find, confirmed the ship was the oldest of its kind in the country, in addition to being remarkably intact.

Most other finds have consisted of little more than a few planks and boards and were no longer immediately recognizable as boats.

In addition to preserving the ship and the site where it was found, Edy said the museum would serve as a recreational, educational and historical resource.

“We are hoping that we can realize the development by 2013. We are also planning to feature finds from other sites in the museum, such as Plawangan and Terjan in Kragen, and Kajar in Lasem,” he said.

As the society waits for the money to purchase the land, it has been working with experts from the United States and Japan to conserve other relics.

Meanwhile, Hari Untoro Drajat, from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, said the government favored preserving the ship where it was found.

“We are hoping to do in-situ preservation because it would be too risky to move it from the site, it is too fragile,” Hari said.
 

Antara, JG