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Ivlia (ship)

Ivlia (bireme).tif
Ivlia in Bay of Biscay
History
Soviet Union/Ukraine
Name: Ivlia
Laid down: September 1988
Launched: August 1989
Homeport: Odessa 46°28′N 30°44′E / 46.467°N 30.733°E / 46.467; 30.733
General characteristics
Type: bireme
Displacement: 26 tonnes
Length: 25.4 m (83 ft 4 in)
Beam: 4.6 m (15 ft 1 in)
Draught: 0.8 m (2 ft 7 in)
Propulsion:
  • large square sail, 55 sq.m
  • 50 oarsmen
Speed: Maximum (with oars) 5 knots (9.3 km/h)
Complement: 50 plus 3 officers (in antiquity)
Armament: bronze bow ram.

Ivlia (bireme) is a modern reconstruction of an ancient Greek rowing warship (galley) with oars at two levels and an important example of experimental archaeology. Between 1989 and 1994, this vessel undertook six comprehensive international historical and geographical expeditions in the footsteps of the ancient seafarers.

The main sponsor of construction of the ship was the Black Sea Shipping Company.

The ship was constructed in 1989 at the Sochi Naval Shipyard, by a team under shipwright Damir S. Shkhalakhov, as well as the active participation of the future crew members. Ivlia was built from Durmast oak and Siberian larch, the oars are of beech. Technical design of the project was carried out by specialists of the Nikolayev University of Shipbuilding. After processing the available scientific data (ancient illustrations on vases and reliefs, written and archaeological sources) members of the Odessa Archaeological Museum, under the leadership of prof. PhD Vladimir N. Stanko, proposed the building of a bireme since in antiquity it had been the most widely used vessel in the northern Black Sea region.

Starting from Odessa (Ukraine) in 1989, Ivlia followed the routes of the ancient mariners on the Black Sea and the Mediterranean as well as the Atlantic, covering more than 3.000 nautical miles in six expedition seasons and visiting over 50 European ports, finally sailing up the river Seine to reach Paris. The expedition's progress was widely covered by the international media. During the time of the voyage, hundreds of articles were published, along with dozens of TV and radio reports. The ship was regularly visited by official delegations and thousands of tourists. Ivlia also took part in international maritime festivals: «Colombo'92» (Genoa, Italy), «Brest’92», «Cancal’93», «Whitbread Round the World Race '93» (Portsmouth) «Vieux Greements’94» (France). The radio constantly broadcast the expedition’s call sign. Over six seasons the crew members included more than 200 people – citizens of Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, France, Greece and Georgia.


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