FINALLY THE PIECES OF PHOENICIA ARE ALL TOGETHER

Phoenicia’s saga continues. The hero of our story sailed his ship around Africa and across the Atlantic for more than 30,000 nautical miles on some of the world’s roughest seas. Near the Cape of Good Hope, where the waters of the Indian and Atlantic oceans mix, the ancient design was able to withstand gale force winds and 30-foot waves. During construction of the strongest ships 2,600 years ago, ancient builders used 10,000 joints to hold the ship’s timbers together. Those 10,000 joints are the genius of ship’s design.

Covid-19 Pandemic was an important chapter in the history of our ship. After successfully navigating around Africa and crossing the Atlantic, Philip’s ship moored in Florida until he had to decide what to do. Having sunk in the mud of a canal, the US Coast Guard said that Phoenicia was a nuisance and should be scuttled to the bottom of the ocean.

In designing, building, and sailing the ship, Captain Beale had invested his life’s energy and fortune. To save as much as he could , he cut her into pieces. One half of the ship’s pieces went to England and the other half went to Iowa. Over the past two years, these pieces were separated from each other.

Six weeks ago, a 40-foot sea container left the Port of Felixstowe, England for the Port of New York. During the summer months, millions of tons of freight and thousands of people travel this route. Nevertheless, we lost our container in New York and it ended up in Freeport, Grand Bahamas. Last week, by God’s grace, the shipping agent found the container in the Caribbean and got the shipping company to return it to the Port of New York.

On Friday the trucking company started to move the container one thousand miles to Iowa. Today, a crane came to the Phoenician Ship Museum and lifted the 15-ton, 40-foot container off the flatbed and gently placed it next to the other pieces of the ship. These pieces will now come together to become the oldest ship replica in the world.

She will stand next to the banks of the Mississippi in Iowa as evidence that anciednt people had the skill and technology to sail to America 2,600 years ago. In 600 BC on the waters of the deep the Phoenicians ruled the waves. The legacy of these people lives on as a part of how so many years ago the Old and the New World connected.

Experience this history-changing ship for yourself.