NEWPORT’S historic ship could take pride of place in a new museum in the city as plans are underway to find a new venue.

Newport council has put a tender out inviting developers to recommend a suitable location and building to house a new museum in the city.

The current museum and art gallery is said to be in a building which “can at best be described as challenging and does not provide enough space to adequately display its collections.”

This new building, which the tender says should promote and display the ship as a key exhibit, will replace the existing museum and art gallery should plans bear fruit from this early stage.

The ship is currently being conserved in an industrial unit in Maesglas and conservation of all 1,700 timbers is expected to be finished in 2014.

The council is asking for developers to determine the best place for the new museum, be it an existing building which can be developed or a site where a purpose-built museum can be housed.

There is no set budget for the project at the moment, once bids have been submitted for stage one of the plans, the second stage will involve identifying the overall cost and identifying external bodies to help fund the project.

This part of the scheme will also require detailed designs and a plan for how the ship, discovered on the banks of the River Usk in 2002, can be reassembled.

A council spokeswoman described this as the first stage in the wider process of finding a location to display and interpret the Newport medieval ship and it is looking for a specialist company to explore options for housing it.

She added: “It could provide an excellent opportunity to tell the story of medieval Newport and its history as an international maritime town long before its development as an industrial port.

“Finding a suitable location is a complex matter and any recommendations will be thoroughly scrutinised by officers and members before proceeding further following this initial exploratory stage.”

Developers have until October 19 to submit their bids.