Under the supervision of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Ministry of Cultural Affairs has organized in partnership with the National Institute of Heritage (INP) and the Agency for the Development of Heritage and Cultural Promotion (AMVPPC) the fourth technical and scientific meeting of the international cooperation project for the protection of the underwater cultural heritage at the Esquerquis Bank on May 5, 2022, at the Plaza Ramada Hotel in Tunis.
The meeting was inaugurated by Mr. Youssef Alachkham, the Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs who welcomed the participants who involved senior government officers, general directors, and the guests following this meeting chaired by the Excellency of the UNESCO Ambassador Delegate of the Republic of Panama, Ms. Elia Del Carmen Guerra Jurado.
The participants also involved experts specialized in underwater cultural heritage and representatives of the participating state parties contributing to the success of the initiative, such as Spain, Italy, Algeria, France, Croatia, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia, being the coordinating country. The meeting also rounded up representatives of different national ministries under the auspices of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and representatives of the General Secretary of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage of 2001.
The first day of this meeting was run by the researcher, Ms. Wafa Ben Slimane, the national point of contact for the project at the Esquerquis Bank. The communication plan is to be discussed and implemented by the committee of the project along with a memorandum of cooperation between the coordinating country, the participating countries in the project, and the UNESCO organization on the closing day.
This project is considered to be the first experience to implement the fundamental principles of the UNESCO Convention of 2001, which is based on the operationalization of the cooperation mechanism between the member countries of the convention, the principle of notice, the exchange of information, the strengthening of capacities, know-how, and knowledge, as well as the exchange of experiences related to the underwater cultural heritage through the conduction of an exploration campaign to locate and investigate the remains of the ships scattered in the Esquerquis Bank. The project is based on the realization of geophysical scans allowing the collection of information, the analysis of data, the processing of archaeological data, the creation of numerical and interactive maps and three-dimension samples of the remains of the historical ships.
It is worth noting that the Esquerquis Bank is located in front of the northern Tunisian coast and the northwestern Sicilian Channel. The biggest part extends to the Tunisian continental reef. The Esquerquis Bank occupies a strategic position in the very heart of the Mediterranean Sea, which has made it a place for the passage of ships and a hub of trade.
