Maritime archeologists have commenced underwater
excavations and studies of two wrecked ships of archaeological
value off shore at Hikkaduwa.

One of the ships belonged to the world’s oldest
bulk oil carrier fleet - Conch. It had been wrecked off the
coast of Akurala. Both ships capsized well over a century ago,
one in late 19th century and the other in the early 20th
century. "They are vast stores of artifacts that could support
many further studies," Rasika Muthukumarana of the Maritime
Archaeology Unit, Central Cultural Fund, Galle Fort told The
Island yesterday.

One, was a steam ship. The other a sailing
vessel. The ‘Conch’ was one of the first four ships built to
carry bulk oil, he said. ‘Conch’ has been confirmed to be over
120 years old and was the 12th oldest such ship. It sank in
1903.

The other ship ‘Earl Shaftesbury’ also a century
and half old was wrecked in 1884 and lies at the bottom of the
sea between Hikkaduwa and Akurala. Artifacts of the ‘Earl of
Shaftesbury’ lie at a depth of 13 meters scattered all over a
flat sandy terrain, he said.

The two would be converted into field schools of
UNESCO’s Asia Pacific region’s Maritime Archaeological School
programme. "Twelve field officers have been already selected as
trainers of the school and are undergoing training," he said.

One of the ships had been requested by a group
of businessmen to be broken and salvaged to be sold as scrap
iron, but the move was rejected by the Archaeology Department,
he said.