The remains of ancient ships from various time periods are commonly found on land and under the sea in conditions that make it difficult to reconstruct their original form and structure. For this reason, the reconstruction should be supported by other data, such as data on similar ships, but also by certain assumptions. The results of the reconstruction are significant not only in a historical sense but are of exceptional importance when building floating replicas. Two ships, Nin 1 and Nin 2, today for promotional purposes known as Condurae Croaticae, were found in Nin (Croatia) at the end of the 1960s. They are about 8 to 10 m long, and tentatively dated to the 11th century AD, although there are indications that they could be dated two centuries later. Based on archaeological finds exhibited in the Museum of Nin Antiquities, hull line drawings were created, according to which two floating replicas were made at the end of the 1990s. Considering the problem of hogging that appeared in both ships, a new proposal for the reconstruction of the original hull lines was performed based on the available documentation. The aim of this paper is a systematic analysis of its calm water resistance. Based on the established credibility of experimental testing, a scale model (1:4 ratio) of the Nin 1 vessel is constructed and evaluated through towing tank experiments. The second approach, the CFD method, is a reliable numerical method for calm resistance estimation, but it is rarely used in the analysis of ancient ships. Finally, the widely used empirical Holtrop method is also applied, but it was developed for ships of larger dimensions and with large parts of flat bottoms and, therefore, the more appropriate Delft Hull Yacht Series method is also tested. The results obtained by applying the four mentioned methods are compared and discussed.

Wooden ships on the shipwreck sites are usually only partially preserved, and reconstructing the original hull lines requires considerable effort. The shape of the hull has a direct effect on the ship’s capacity to carry cargo, as well as on its speed and stability. When reconstructing the hull lines, the incomplete nature of the archaeological remains results in the interpretation of the available data. The outcome, therefore, depends on the assumptions and decisions associated with the reconstruction process. This paper examines how the variation in a single parameter, namely, the beam, affects the performance of the vessel. Considering the availability of the model, the Kyrenia ship from the fourth/third century BC is used as a case study. The scope of this paper is to demonstrate and quantify the effect of beam variation on ancient ship performance, namely, the ship cargo capacity, stability, and resistance. Kyrenia ship was used as a study case based on hull lines proposed by Steffy in 1985. The aim is not to modify Steffy’s original reconstruction but to demonstrate that small deviations could significantly affect the performance of the vessel. In addition, an increase in the height of the ship’s sides is proposed as a possible solution to increase the load capacity of the ship. The opportunity to explore a whole set of trials and reconstructive variations with naval engineering software can deepen our understanding of ship performance, allowing us to improve our approach to reconstruction, too.

This paper presents an analysis of the ultimate strength of wooden joints of the structures of ancient wooden ships. The aim is to contribute to the discussion about how joining technology and types of joints contributed to the transition from ‘shell-first’ to ‘frame-first’ construction, of which the latter is still traditional Mediterranean wooden shipbuilding technology. Historically, ship construction has consisted of two main structural types of elements: planking and stiffening. Therefore, two characteristic carvel planking joints and two longitudinal keel joints were selected for analysis. For planking, the joint details of the ship Uluburun (14th c. BC) and the ship Kyrenia (4th c. BC) were chosen, while two different types of scarf joints belonging to the ship Jules-Verne 9 (6th c. BC) and the ship Toulon 2 (1st c. AD) were selected. The capacity, i.e., the ultimate strength of the joint, is compared to the strength of the structure as if there was no joint. The analysis simulates the independent joint loading of each of the six numerical models in bending, tension, and compression until collapse. The results are presented as load-end-shortening curves, and the calculation was performed as a nonlinear FE analysis on solid elements using the LSDYNA explicit solver. Since wood is an anisotropic material, a large number of parameters are needed to describe the wood’s behaviour as realistically as possible. To determine all the necessary mechanical properties of two types of wood structural material, pine and oak, a physical experiment was used where results were compared with numerical calculations. This way, the material models were calibrated and used on the presented joints’ ultimate strength analysis.

Podmorsko arheološko istraživanje u uvali Caski na otoku Pagu nastavilo se u vremenu od 4. do 19. svibnja 2024. godine. Tijekom prvog tjedna radovi su započeli u Zoni D Sektora 1, na mjestu gdje su zaustavljeni prošle godine. Drugog tjedna, uzimajući u obzir nova otkrića, istraživanje se nastavilo u maloj uvali jugoistočno od Tunere, zvanoj Mala Pošta. Na tom mjestu otkriven je niz pilona koji su vjerojatno podržavali drvenu operativnu obalu uz veliki potporni zid, izgrađen s ciljem sprječavanja erozije. Na položaju Mrke stene, dalje u smjeru uvalice Pod bužu, otkriveni su ostatci još jednog potopljenog broda. S obzirom na to da je do otkrića došlo posljednjega radnog dana, istraživanje broda planira se tijekom iduće istraživačke kampanje.

S obzirom na to da je tijekom istraživačke kampanje 2023. godine u cijelosti otkriven brod Trstenik 3, ovogodišnji radovi bili su usmjereni na fino čišćenje, uklanjanje proveza i izradu potpune dokumentacije o stanju brodske konstrukcije. Brod se sastoji od kobilice, početnog dijela pramčane i krmene statve, šest vojeva sa svake strane (sastavljenih od jedanaest platica sa sjeverne i osam platica s južne strane), po jedne bokoštitnice sa svake strane (sedmi voj), trideset i četiri rebra koja se sastoje od rebrenica ili polurebrenica te rebrenih nastavaka, triju proveza sa sjeverne i dviju proveza s južne strane te dvaju kratkih elemenata postavljenih, čini se, za pridržavanje proveza.