Posted: Jun 24, 2009 08:59 am EST
(TheOceans.net) Barbed wire, razor blades, fire hoses and molotov cocktails; the Phoenician Ship Expedition is ready for modern problems in its attempt to recreate the first sail around ancient Africa accomplished by Phoenician mariners in 600 BC.

Currently the ship - a replica Phoenician/Mediterranean vessel - is getting ready for the next phase while on anchor at Aden, Republic of Yemen.

Crew briefings on Pirate attacks

The Phoenician Ship Expedition launched from Arwad, Syria, in August 2008 and sailed through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea. Phase One of the expedition was completed when the ship reached Aden. Phase two will launch in August 2009. Phoenicia will sail round the Horn of Africa and down the East Coast.

Expedition leader Philip Beale wrote about the piracy threat, "We are naturally concerned by the increasing threat of piracy in the Gulf of Aden and now the growing threat of piracy south of Somalia and on our planned route towards Mombassa. We are very fortunate in that we are being assisted by Drum Cussac, one of the leading maritime security agencies based at Poole (UK).”

On board the crew gets briefings about the procedure how to respond in the event of a pirate attack. When approaching the port of Aden, Captain Beale wrote in his blog that they “have wrapped the ship’s rails with barbed wire, razor blades, fire hoses and have molotov cocktails at the ready to throw at the pirates”. Some other precautionary measures are:

- A Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) onboard the ship to warn off, deter or ultimately incapacitate pirates who attempt to come on board,
- Increased crew watches in high risk areas to ensure the team are highly alert,
- The ship will be in radio silence and blackened at night where necessary,
- The radar and radar reflector will not be used in high-risk areas,
- The relevant NATO naval patrols will be alerted to their intentions.

Phase Three

The circumnavigation will be followed by another voyage to bring the ship to the United Kingdom in the Summer 2010; in all 17,000 miles and 10 months at sea.

The ship

A number of leading maritime archaeologists and historians have been consulted to develop the design specifications based on archaeological data from shipwrecks of the Phoenician era (predominately the detail of Jules Verne 7 & M'agan Michael wrecks), stated the website.

Mid-November 2007 the shipbuilding began on Arwad Island, Syria, when the keel of the Phoenicia was laid. Khalid Hammoud and his small team of shipwrights were selected to build the boat out of traditionally sourced materials “including Aleppo pine, handmade olive wood tenons and iron nails”. Nine moths later the ship was completed.

The ship has one mast, is 21.5 m in length with 20 rowing oars (10 per side).

The team and crew

The expedition leader and skipper is Philip Beale. In 2003-04 he built an 8th century BC Indonesian ship and sailed it to West Africa to demonstrate that early Indonesian seafarers could have reached West Africa by sail rather than by land.

The expedition crew consists of a core expedition and an international crew of up to 14 people at any one time. The international crewmembers will rotate at port stops. Any keen sailors and adventurers can to take part in this project. A crew application form can be downloaded from the website.

General requirements are listed on the website. “All crew members will be expected to participate in the sailing and daily routines of the ship. In particular watch keeping, crewing, galley, repair and maintenance duties will be expected of all participants.”

The Phoenicia Expedition has an Education Program designed for schools on their website.

The Phoenicians (courtesy of the expedition website):

“The Phoenicians were regarded as 'rulers of the sea' (Ezekiel 26:16 cited by McGrail 2001 pg 129). Occupying what is now modern day Lebanon and the coastal parts of Syria and Palestine from circa 1,200 BC for approximately one thousand years.”

“This civilisation, though often overlooked by the modern world, is credited with many discoveries including the alphabet, insurance and remarkable trading and seafaring abilities including the discovery of the pole star. The Phoenician sphere of influence spread throughout the Mediterranean and their trading activities reached as far as Cornwall for tin, and Indian and China for spices and precious goods.”

“In 600 BC Egyptian King Necho II commissioned the Phoenicians to carry out the first circumnavigation of Africa. Previously considered impossible, Phoenician mariners embraced this challenge as documented in 440BC by Greek historian Herodotus in “The Histories (4.42)”.”

“The vessels were built in Egypt and launched in the Red Sea to sail towards the Cape of Good Hope. It is recorded that the sailors stopped to plant crops along the coast and waited for harvests. The voyage is believed to have taken almost three years to complete with the journey ending in the Mediterranean.”

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