Designing Jewel

Dr Tom Vosmer, a maritime archaeologist with a long-standing interest in Oman’s maritime heritage, was appointed as construction director. Over a period of months in 2007 detailed plans and designs for the ship, based on the wreck, were prepared. By early 2008 a scale model of the ship had to be built by Dr Nicholas Burningham to act as a guide to the construction team. Before construction began, everything was carefully checked – a replica of the hull was taken to a special facility at Southampton University in the United Kingdom for testing in a tank simulating different sea conditions.