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Viking Ship Navigating Seafarers’ Ancient Routes Berths in Adriatic 

A full-size archaeological reconstruction of a 10th-century Viking knarr "Saga Farmann" on its years-long expedition through European rivers, channels and seas, is berthed in Port of Bar, Montenegro, July 20, 2024. (Reuters)
A full-size archaeological reconstruction of a 10th-century Viking knarr "Saga Farmann" on its years-long expedition through European rivers, channels and seas, is berthed in Port of Bar, Montenegro, July 20, 2024. (Reuters)
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Viking Ship Navigating Seafarers’ Ancient Routes Berths in Adriatic 

A full-size archaeological reconstruction of a 10th-century Viking knarr "Saga Farmann" on its years-long expedition through European rivers, channels and seas, is berthed in Port of Bar, Montenegro, July 20, 2024. (Reuters)
A full-size archaeological reconstruction of a 10th-century Viking knarr "Saga Farmann" on its years-long expedition through European rivers, channels and seas, is berthed in Port of Bar, Montenegro, July 20, 2024. (Reuters)

A replica Viking ship has berthed in Montenegro's Adriatic port of Bar on a years-long trip through European waters inspired by the Norse seafarers who set out from Scandinavia to explore, trade and conquer a millennium ago.

The ship, Saga Farmann, is a full-size archaeological reconstruction of a 10th-century Viking cargo vessel, or knarr, made from oak and pine, which was found in Norway as early as 1893 but only excavated in the 1970s.

"This is the type of ship that would travel to Iceland, or Greenland, even North America," said Linda Sten Vagnes, one of the journey's leaders.

The trip, set to end in 2026, was originally planned to follow the Norwegian coast into the White Sea off northern Russia and the Volga River, but it was rerouted to follow the rivers of Europe from West to East.

"We had to the change the route because of the war (in Ukraine)," Sten Vagnes said.

The Viking age, spanning the 8th to 11th centuries AD, saw Norsemen journey from Scandinavia aboard timber longships to stage raids, trade and settle across a wide region, including North America, using their mastery of maritime technology.

The Saga Farman's journey, which started in 2023, was inspired by the sagas about Vikings who travelled to Constantinople, capital of the-then Byzantine empire.

It took years of hard work by enthusiasts, with the support of the governments of Denmark and Norway, to make an exact copy of a knarr. The vessel was launched in 2018, said Axel Hubert Persvik, a ship builder.

"It takes a long time because most of craft we do is by hand, ... it takes many hours to build it."

At the latest leg of the trip, the 21 meters (69 ft)-long and five meters (16 ft)-wide ship sailed from the Aegean Sea into the Adriatic, said Zander Simpson, the ship's captain.

"The next stage of the trip is around Italy, Sicily ... to stay in Rome this winter, before next year's stage which will take her up the Italian coast, the French Riviera ... to Paris."

In addition to sails and oars, the Saga Farmann has four electric motors to propel it upwind and upstream. More than three tons of batteries are stored onboard where they serve for propulsion and as ballast.

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UN Agency Rejects Plan to Place Britain’s Stonehenge on List of Heritage Sites in Danger

Sheep graze beside the prehistoric monument at Stonehenge in southern England, on April 26, 2020, closed during the national lockdown due to the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. (AFP)
Sheep graze beside the prehistoric monument at Stonehenge in southern England, on April 26, 2020, closed during the national lockdown due to the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. (AFP)
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UN Agency Rejects Plan to Place Britain’s Stonehenge on List of Heritage Sites in Danger

Sheep graze beside the prehistoric monument at Stonehenge in southern England, on April 26, 2020, closed during the national lockdown due to the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. (AFP)
Sheep graze beside the prehistoric monument at Stonehenge in southern England, on April 26, 2020, closed during the national lockdown due to the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. (AFP)

The United Nations’ cultural agency rejected recommendations Wednesday to place Stonehenge on the list of world heritage sites in danger over concerns that Britain’s plans to build a nearby highway tunnel threaten the landscape around the prehistoric monument.

UNESCO experts had recommended listing Stonehenge, a prehistoric stone circle on a plain in southern England, as “in danger” over controversial plans to redevelop the nearby highway that would include the creation of a new tunnel aimed at trying to ease traffic along a stretch of road widely prone to gridlock.

Had the 46th session of the World Heritage Committee in New Delhi backed that recommendation, then British authorities would have come under pressure to think again.

UNESCO says a site’s inclusion on its List of World Heritage Sites in Danger is not punitive. Rather, it is aimed at drawing international attention to the urgent need for conservation measures and “encourage corrective action.” If issues are not rectified, sites face the possibility of being de-listed by UNESCO, though that is rare.

Britain was joined by others, including Kenya and Qatar in arguing that efforts to mitigate the effect on the site of the planned tunnel were sufficient and that it should not be added to the “in danger” list.

A spokesperson for the British government welcomed the decision over what is one of the country's “oldest and most celebrated sites.”

Stonehenge was built on the flat lands of Salisbury Plain in stages, starting 5,000 years ago, with the unique stone circle erected in the late Neolithic period about 2,500 B.C.

It was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1986 — an honor bestowed upon sites that have special cultural or physical significance.

The highway project, which has been touted for decades and mired in legal challenges, is aimed at trying to ease traffic along a stretch of road prone to gridlock by moving the main highway underground and slightly farther away from the famous stone circle.

The A303 highway, which is a popular route for motorists traveling to and from the southwest of England, is often severely congested around the single-lane section of road near Stonehenge. As part of widespread improvements, a two-mile tunnel is being planned that will effectively remove the sight and sound of traffic passing the site, and cut journey times.

The plan has faced fierce opposition from local residents and archaeologists, as well as concern from UNESCO, over potential damage to the environment, wildlife and possible new archaeological finds.

Last week, campaigners seeking to halt the plan began their latest legal challenge at the UK's Court of Appeal.

Kenya, in amending the recommendation to list the site as in danger, focused on the fact that the main stone circle would be farther away from the road with the new construction, and not the experts' assessment that the road project would significantly impact the greater site. It also noted that Britain had considered more than 50 proposals for the highway plan.

After rejecting the proposal to list Stonehenge as in danger, the committee agreed to ask Britain for an updated report on the state of conservation of the property by December 2025.