The tradition of underwater archeology in Hungary began 25 years ago, when a larger piece of rock in the Danube in Bölcske, Tolna county, seemingly a river bar, was discovered to be the remnants of an ancient Roman fort, similarly to the ruins found near Elisabeth Bridge in Budapest, where pieces of another fortified guardian outpost, the Contra Aquincum, was excavated.

During the eighties, underwater archeology in Hungary existed under amateur conditions with the sole aim of bringing artefacts found in lakes or rivers to surface. A decade later, the Octopus Association was founded to provide platform and network for professional archeologists in their work. Initially, their main domain was Budapest and its vicinity, but so far Octopus members have participated in excavations all around the world: South-Africa, Brazil, Cuba and Mozambique. In South-Africa, these Hungarian archeologist discovered two 18th-century shipwrecks, while in Brazil they processed an entire area containing the remnants of 107 ships altogether.

According to Róbert Kertész, professional diver and archeologist, member of the Octopus Association, who unraveled the remains of the first bridge over the Tisza River built by Ottoman Turks, mainly the expensive equipment distinguishes between amateur and professional archeologists. High-tech sonar machines, which the association usually buys from the US, are capable of identifying objects (shipwrecks, weapons, tools) even under a thick layer of soil or sludge.

Attila Szalóky K., chairman of the Octopus Association, plans to exhibit the artifacts that have been found so far by Hungarian archeologists. Many of these founding’s are currently kept in the East London Museum and the Sea Museum in Cape Town. The Debrecen ex Kassa would also provide place for other artifacts found under water, which are preserved in various Hungarian museums scattered around the country, and would feature seasonal and guest exhibitions as well.

On the press conference held within the hulk of Debrecen ex Kassa at the end of October, Attila Szalóky K. announced that they intend to finish the transformation of the ship in May 2011.

252 million HUF will be given by the EU, while the remaining 300 million will be financed by the Octopus Association itself.
The Debrecen ex Kassa will feature a 400 m2 exhibition area, to which separate halls for conference event will be attached. The project also includes the installation of various interactive equipments, too: a ship-controller and a storm simulator, as well as a robot manipulator: an equipment similar to those that were used during the unraveling of the Titanic.

The museum would also contain a thematic library and video database, as well as other computer terminals. Szalóky intends to keep the price for regular tickets below 1000 HUF.

Debrecen ex Kassa is the last remaining member of the Hungarian flotilla of ships cruising on the Danube and also reaching the Black Sea. It was constructed in 1939. In 2009, the Octopus Association rented the ship for 25 years and entered into contract to keep the ship’s original form but renovate and transform it internally to host the museum exhibitions.

Translated from hvg.hu by Bernát Iváncsics for XpatLoop.com