SHE is a ship full of mystery, sailing out of the far past into the future with a cargo of dreams.

The time will come when what has been dubbed the Newport Ship will be resurrected in the form she had over 500 years ago when her prow was cutting the waters of the Severn.

For now, she is dismembered and her timbers laid out in 17 vast saturation tanks as the first step in their preservation.

When her keel was hewn from beech and her timbers from oak, adzes and saws were the shipwrights' tools.

In 2005 advanced computer science is recreating the medieval vessel. While her timbers will eventually be pieced together in a physical resemblance, an infinitely detailed computerised examination is expected to provide a treasure trove of information for scientists and maritime historians.

"The time has come to push the boat out - to let people know just how crucially important this vessel is not only to their city, but to the world of science," said Kate Hunter, manager of the project that could cost up to £15 million over the next 15 years.

"It will change the way we think about ourselves. Most Newportonians think of their city as being a creature of the Industrial Revolution. "What we have here is a big ship built at a tremedously important time in ship design when longer voyages of discovery using new technologies were being made.

"It is the most important 15th century vessel in the world. I think it will make us pay more attention to a Newport as it was in the Middle Ages." "It would be difficult to overstate the Newport Ship's importance to the international community of maritime historians and scientists. What may be needed is for the connection to be made between the people of Newport and their city's unique windfall.

"On Sunday between 11am and four we are having the first of three open days which will give Newport people a chance to see what is going on here," said Kate Hunter, standing amid the preservation tanks in the 2,500 square metres of floor space at Unit 22, Maesglas Industrial Estate. People will be able to see not only the ship's timbers, which we estimate to be about 60 percent of the complete vessel, but also the computer recording of its components. Similar open days are planned for July 3 and September 11.

"What people will see is a ship embarked on a new voyage of scientific discovery."