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The ModernShip project is based on the premise that the ship was an essential tool both as a vector of trade and as a war machine, but also as an instrument of discovery and conquest of the world. It states that despite her fundamental role in the process of emancipation of the European nations, we know little about it, and particularly in the Mediterranean context.

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Taking the above into account, the ModernShip project makes a three-point statement: 

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1 - The development and expansion of the European nations in the modern age cannot be properly understood without the knowledge of the ship which materially conveyed it, as well as the technical environment which enabled her production. 

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2 – Our vision of European shipbuilding lacks the Mediterranean technical culture which is at the origin of many technical innovations and technological transfers to the Atlantic.

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3 - The latest discoveries of ‘Mediterranean shipwrecks’ make it possible to change this situation. It paves the way to a comprehensive knowledge of the structure of shipbuilding in Europe of the period.