Yachts for Science is partnering with researchers to learn more about an ancient Greek port that was once a marvel of engineering and diversity.
In Roman times, Kenchreai was a busy and important port on Greece’s Isthmus of Corinth. A massive artificial harbor brought merchants and other travelers — and with them, the free flow of ideas. It was a diverse community of Christians and pagans who flourished in a pluralistic society that revolved around an engineering marvel, the port.
Today, tectonic shifts and coastal erosion mean the ruins of that once thriving port lie beneath the waves. Now a team led by a professor of coastal geology and ocean engineering at the University of Delaware is leading an ambitious underwater archaeology project — and Yachts for Science is helping them find vessels that can aid with research in these beautiful, ancient surroundings.
Using divers, underwater robots and advanced mapping, the team led by professor Art Trembanis will hunt Roman shipwrecks while learning more about the ancient harbour’s port works and coastal setting.
For Yachts for Science (YfS), this foray into marine archaeology is a departure from its usual focus on areas such as marine biology.
A project like this can lead to conservation-based outcomes such as new protected areas, YfS chief project leader Rosie O’Donnell says. A project that attracts media and public attention to science and conservation is always good, she says, and who doesn’t find ancient shipwrecks interesting?
“We are always learning and finding new creative ways to embrace purposeful yachting,” she says. “What we are interested in is what owners (and) operators get excited about — what inspires them to get involved.
“Kenchreai is the start of a three-year effort, and each season will give us new discoveries and new questions. What we’re doing here — combining archaeology with modern underwater robotics — is a model that can carry over to many other ancient ports that need careful, detailed documentation. So yes, we see this project as a springboard for more work like it across the region.”
Yachts for Science has recently been speaking to several charter expedition companies to see if this might be right for their clients.
“The next stage is to promote the project through as many channels as possible. We see this as part of someone’s holiday charter,” O’Donnell says. “The permits have been issued by the Greek government for June and July 2026 only, so we don’t have a very big window to find the right owner, captain and vessel — the good news is it is in Greece. There is a healthy number of private vessels in this area and thankfully we are not looking for a boat in some off-the-beaten path of the Indian Ocean.”
It’s research that promises lots of fun and interesting discoveries that translate well to a broader audience. And for Yachts for Science, it’s a unique opportunity to understand something from an antiquity that has a direct link to yachting today — a bustling, advanced port.
“We love that connection,” O’Donnell says. “Ports are the lifeblood of yachting today, just as they were for ancient mariners. At Kenchreai, you can feel that continuity almost directly — modern vessels tracing the same coastline that ships did thousands of years ago. Our work is really about reconnecting those threads: understanding how seafarers of the past built, lived and moved through a harbor that, in many ways, set the stage for the maritime world we navigate now. It’s a reminder that the rhythms of the sea link us across time.”
For more information on Yachts for Science and how your boat might be able to help, visit yachtsforscience.com.