Kenya, China set to boost ties as excavation set to begin

Kenya and China are set to strengthen their historical ties as the final phase of the underwater excavation in the coastal Lamu Island kicks off next week.

A team of about 20 Chinese and Kenyan experts will arrive in the resort town on Dec. 1, to kick-start the process, which is a Sino project agreement between the Kenyan and Chinese governments.

The National Museums of Kenya (NMK) Assistant Director for Coastal region, Athman Hussein confirmed on Wednesday that the experts from China and Kenya will commence work immediately.

The experts will be working on three assignments part of which will be to try locating the Chinese ship that sunk over 100 years ago, and whose wreckage will be vital in trying to trace the historical connection between the two countries.

"The team will have four archaeologists from Kenya, and will also try to assist the NMK to locate some of the dhows that sunk in Malindi-Ngomeni and Mombasa, since the local fishermen have been informing us that they have been seeing some sort of wreckage in the deep sea," Athman told journalists in Mombasa.

The official said that the experts will use latest and sophisticated technology, to be able to locate the vessels.

"They were to arrive during the festivity period but there were visa hitches, which delayed them more, since they had also wanted to be part of the activities," he added.

During the second phase of the underwater and land excavation that stretched up to Mambrui in Malindi and Mombasa, several artifacts were discovered, including Chinese coins, porcelain and a mass grave bearing skeletons of the early inhabitants of the area.

"From the discovery, we came to the conclusion that Malindi and Mambrui are among the oldest settlements that were inhabited by the iron-age period class," said Athman.

The official added that there is a lot of data being processed for the first and second phases of the project, and will be revealed to the public soon.

The first phase underwater excavation phase, conducted last year in Lamu, included mapping out the areas and coming up with conclusions on the depth of the water, currents and other relevant issues.