News - Week 3: Finding what we were looking for

Casper changing tanks on the surface supplied air – the divers’ lifeline.

No spaghetti allowed – keeping good order in the lifelines/communication-lines and air-supply lines is vital for safe diving, and the tenders are always ready to retrieve a diver in case of any emergency.

Author: Bjoern Loven

During this week’s excavations we found the side-wall dividing shipsheds 30-31 projecting out from underneath the paved area between the Group 1 & 2 shipsheds, offering clear evidence of the sequencing of these two structures.

The side-wall was found in a trench which was opened between the two monumental side-walls of shipsheds 29-30 and 31-32 to investigate if the wall dividing shipshed 30-31 was overbuilt by the paved area discovered in earlier years. The wall was exactly where we expected to find it, and it is now clear that the area was levelled out with a fill prior to the construction of the paved area, so we are crossing our fingers in the hope that we have a major closed deposit on our hands.

At the end of this week we said goodbye to Casper and Charles. Both have contributed greatly to setting up this year’s excavations. Charles worked twenty-two days straight constructing, refitting and repairing excavation and diving equipment. He also built a crane, refurbished a room and parts of the roof terrace. Casper, an experienced naval officer and commercial diver, has offered advice on organisational and leadership aspects of the project—just the kind of input we need as we constantly seek to improve both ourselves and the project.