Questions have been raised over Newport City Council’s plans for the Newport Ship, which was discovered on the banks of the river Usk in June 2002.
The 15th-century sailing vessel is currently housed in a unit at the town’s Maesglas Industrial Estate.
But Charles Ferris, city councillor and patron of the Friends of the Newport Ship organisation, said: “As far as I am aware, there are no plans for a museum to house the ship. We are hopeful that conservators from York Archaeological Trust will honour the contract to restore it.”
The ship’s timbers are being freeze-dried, with the process scheduled to finish next year.
“We hope a larger body, such as National Museum Wales, will step in to take up the project,” added Ferris.
National Museum Wales staff have been advising on the study and interpretation of the ship. But a spokeswoman said the institution was “unfortunately, not currently in a position to take it on”.
The council is in talks with the Welsh government about the “storage, final display and funding strategy”.
A council spokeswoman said funding had been ringfenced to complete the conservation project.
“The council has always recognised the importance of the ship as an object of international significance, but the economic context in which it is now operating is very different from a decade ago when the vessel was discovered,” she added.
Meanwhile, councillors have also published proposals to relocate the Newport art gallery, museum and library, which share a building on John Frost Square, to make way for a £100m shopping development.
A spokeswoman for Newport City Council said: “A proposal to create a leisure and cultural hub, including the museum, art gallery and library, in a reconfigured Newport Centre, which is a very short distance away from John Frost Square, is still at a very early stage.”
She declined to say whether there would be any job losses as a result of the move.
The 15th-century sailing vessel is currently housed in a unit at the town’s Maesglas Industrial Estate.
But Charles Ferris, city councillor and patron of the Friends of the Newport Ship organisation, said: “As far as I am aware, there are no plans for a museum to house the ship. We are hopeful that conservators from York Archaeological Trust will honour the contract to restore it.”
The ship’s timbers are being freeze-dried, with the process scheduled to finish next year.
“We hope a larger body, such as National Museum Wales, will step in to take up the project,” added Ferris.
National Museum Wales staff have been advising on the study and interpretation of the ship. But a spokeswoman said the institution was “unfortunately, not currently in a position to take it on”.
The council is in talks with the Welsh government about the “storage, final display and funding strategy”.
A council spokeswoman said funding had been ringfenced to complete the conservation project.
“The council has always recognised the importance of the ship as an object of international significance, but the economic context in which it is now operating is very different from a decade ago when the vessel was discovered,” she added.
Meanwhile, councillors have also published proposals to relocate the Newport art gallery, museum and library, which share a building on John Frost Square, to make way for a £100m shopping development.
A spokeswoman for Newport City Council said: “A proposal to create a leisure and cultural hub, including the museum, art gallery and library, in a reconfigured Newport Centre, which is a very short distance away from John Frost Square, is still at a very early stage.”
She declined to say whether there would be any job losses as a result of the move.
