The Limassol Municipality has initiated the procedures for the restoration of the "Lampousa" fishing boat with an estimated cost of €700.000. The Municipality aspires to create an Outdoor Fishing Museum on the beach front by upgrading and utilizing on the one hand the old Port wharf and on the other hand the "distressed" fishing trawler, I a project supported funded by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund.
The application for funding from the Maritime and Fisheries Fund has been submitted through the Limassol District Development Company and the planning provides that, once "Lampousa" is upgraded and deemed seaworthy, it will moor at a quay at Molos (east of the quay of the old port) in the capacity of a floating museum, while informative and other relevant material will be placed on the wharf.
As published on the government e-procurement platform, the upgrading of Lampousa has been assigned on November 24 and relevant contracts were signed a fortnight later.
The Tender for the restoration of the wharf adjacent to the old port of Limassol has also been awarded through a procurement process in September, with an estimated cost of €650.000, and its execution is pending.
Regarding the application for funding from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, the local authority of Limassol is currently awaiting final approval from the competent authorities. "Lampousa", which operated as a fishing trawler in the Easter Mediterranean for 50 years, came into the possession of Limassol Municipality years ago, when the government decided to subsidize the withdrawal of trawlers and proposed to the coastal Municipalities to take one of these boats, with the commitment to maintain it and shape it into a visitable space.
The boat has a length of 25 meters, a capacity of 48 tons and is one of the last traditional fishing boats that exist in Cyprus, one of the largest of its kind, which are no longer manufactured in our country or in Greece. It was previously placed on a special dock of the Limassol beach park and was visited by locals and foreigners. But in 2018 it was immobilized in the old port and remained unmaintained, resulting in serious problems were to its hull, while parts were also stolen from it. Subsequently, it was deemed necessary to move it to the quay to further evaluate its condition and along the way it was decided, in collaboration with the Limassol District Development Company, to promote its transformation into a floating museum.
