The Barcelona Charter, in full the European Charter for the Conservation and Restoration of Traditional Ships in Operation is an informal but widely accepted

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

for maintenance and restoration projects on historic watercraft that are still in operation as active sailing vessels.

Background

More than a thousand historic

watercraft Any vehicle used in or on water as well as underwater, including boats, ships, hovercraft and submarines, is a watercraft, also known as a water vessel or waterborne vessel. A watercraft usually has a propulsive capability (whether by sai ...

of all sizes are still in operation in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. Only a small number of them are registered monuments or real

museum ships A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small num ...

, while nearly all of them have a certain historic or cultural value in the context of

maritime Maritime may refer to: Geography * Maritime Alps, a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps * Maritime Region, a region in Togo * Maritime Southeast Asia * The Maritimes, the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Pri ...

regional history Historical regions (or historical areas) are geographical regions which at some point in time had a cultural, ethnic, linguistic or political basis, regardless of latterday borders. They are used as delimitations for studying and analysing so ...

. The wide majority of historic watercraft are owned and operated by private owners, associations, foundations etc. European Maritime Heritage, the European

umbrella organization An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and ofte ...

for traditional vessels in operation, decided to develop a code of best practice for the conservation and restoration of such vessels to safeguard the historic value of these vessels and to define minimum methodological standards for any work to be carried out on these vessels. A working group mainly consisting of Arne Gotved,

John Robinson John Robinson may refer to: Academics *John Thomas Romney Robinson (1792–1882), Irish astronomer and physicist * John J. Robinson (1918–1996), historian and author of ''Born in Blood'' * John Talbot Robinson (1923–2001), paleontologist *Joh ...

and the professional maritime historian Ingo Heidbrink drafted the text of the Charter which was finally adopted by European Maritime Heritage in 2003.

The Barcelona Charter describes in a few paragraphs how conservation and restoration of traditional

ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

s in operation should be done. The basic principles are developed on the basis of the Charter of Venice and include for example the requirement for proper documentation of all work carried out as well as proper historical background research as a basis for all work to be done. The aim of all paragraphs is to safeguard the particular historic value of a vessel for future generations although the vessel is still in operation and therefore certain safety-regulations of today have to be matched. The original text of the Charter was written i
English
but unofficial translations are available for a number of European languages

. A detailed commentary on all paragraphs of the Charter was developed by the maritime historian Ingo Heidbrink.

Relevance

Although the Barcelona Charter is not a binding legal instrument, it is widely accepted as a code of best practice and is recognized by several European marine safety authorities as well as national owner organizations of historic watercraft. Despite the fact that the Barcelona Charter was written mainly as a European Charter, the principles of the Charter can be applied globally and were, for example, published by the National Research Institute for Restoration and Conservation of Japan.

National Research Institute for Cultural Properties The , commonly known as Tobunken, is an institute dedicated to the preservation and utilization of cultural properties. It is one of the two institutes in Japan that comprise the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, an independent adminis ...

, Tokyo, Conservation of Vessels, Tokyo (Office Hans)2004

References

External links

www.european-maritime-heritage.org
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110531143510/http://www.european-maritime-heritage.org/bc.aspx , date=2011-05-31
www.e-m-h.eu - BC
*

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

Green Paper In the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth countries, Hong Kong, the United States and the European Union, a green paper is a tentative government report and consultation document of policy proposals for debate and discussion. A green paper represen ...

Towards a future Maritime Policy for the Union: A European vision for the oceans and seas June 2006 *
Volume I
*
Volume II
Museology Museum ships International cultural heritage documents Sailing ships 2003 documents

Background

Contents

See also

Relevance

References

External links