Cyprus, one of the most important ports for seafarers throughout every period of history with its location in the center of the Eastern Mediterranean, is getting the Maritime History Museum, which will be the first floating ship museum of the island, with the initiative of the Near East Enterprises.
Maritime History Museum TEAL, which will host more than 5 thousand materials such as maritime objects, ship models, nautical maps, pictures and photographs, was placed to the special area built in Kyrenia Harbor with a magnificent ceremony.
Many guests attended the ceremony, which was held with the participation of the Minister of Public Works and Transport, Erhan Arıklı. The construction of the special area where the Maritime History Museum TEAL will welcome its visitors at the Port of Kyrenia has been completed by the teams of the Near East Enterprises. Completed with a hard work, a significant part of the construction which the teams carried out was underwater; 3,500 cubic meters of concrete was used in the construction of the area, which is 56 meters long, 10 meters wide and 4 meters deep.
TEAL, which was produced at Liverpool shipyards in 1955 to be used as a minesweeper in the United Kingdom Navy, was transferred to the Australian Navy after many years of use in the British Navy. TEAL, which also served here as a military ship, continued to be used in different areas such as passenger transportation, fishing and water sports tourism in Tanzania and the Caribbean after its retirement. In 1994, it was brought to the TRNC to be used as a Training and Research Ship at the Near East University Maritime Faculty. TEAL, which is also used as a training and research ship within the University of Kyrenia Maritime Faculty, will continue to serve as a museum to the maritime history of which it is an important part.
At the ceremony where TEAL was placed into its new home in Kyrenia Harbor, Near East Initiative Chairman of the Board of Trustees Prof. Dr. İrfan Suat Günsel and Minister of Public Works and Transport Erhan Arıklı made speeches.