Part of a 100-year-old wreck may be sawn off to make way for mega cruise ships in Dockyard.

The iron vessel has recently been examined by a team of maritime archaeologists from East Carolina University ahead of the construction of a $35 million new ship terminal.

According to Assistant Professor Nathan Richards from the team, the 65-foot wreck could be "of great significance" to Bermuda as a vessel used to transport building materials during the expansion of the Dockyard around 1901.

He is also researching the possibility that it is the only known example of a class built specifically to construct all Royal Naval Dockyards across the globe.

Although the wreck is not in the way of the planned terminal, Prof. Richards said it is possible the new generation of Panamax and Post Panamax ships to dock there could scrape their hulls on a spindle.

That structure sticks up around six feet from the stern of the ship and is believed to have been a support for a crane.

Prof. Richards is considering a number of recommendations on how to deal with the wreck, which he described as a good dive site. The most viable is cutting off the protruding section.

"That's the lowest-impact thing to be done and the cheapest thing to be done. It's probably best for everyone is that's taken off," he explained. "Cutting off one very small part of it now it's been recorded is perfectly acceptable."

However, Prof. Richards said there is also a possibility that the wash from the propellors of the cruise ships could disturb the sediment the wreck is sitting in, affecting its stability.

Another option could therefore be to completely relocate it.

"It's a very intact wreck. It's very sturdy, so there's always the possibility that it can be removed... I think it's feasible although I don't know the costs," he explained.

The team of researchers, led by Prof. Richards and Bradley Rodgers from the university's department of Maritime Studies, spent six days in Bermuda earlier this month, measuring, photographing and filming the vessel which lies in the Great Sound.

They believe it was constructed between 1880 and 1900 and sunk between 1890 and 1930.

The project was organised in collaboration with Custodian of Wrecks Phillippe Rouja and the Maritime Museum, with the $27,000 cost met by Correia Construction Company, which has the contract for the terminal project.

According to Dr. Edward Harris, Director of the Bermuda Maritime Museum, this may be the first stage of a long-term collaboration between the museum and East Carolina University to document all Bermuda's iron ship wrecks, of which there are nine in St. George's Harbour alone.

The full report from the university team is expected in around a month. It will be sent to stakeholders including Government, the Historic Wrecks Authority and the Maritime Museum.

Plans for the first phase of the new cruise ship terminal were approved by the Development Applications Board earlier this year, despite objections from parties including the National Trust and the Historic Wrecks Authority.

A Government spokesperson has previously said that no work will be carried out in the vicinity of the wreck until the full results of the archaeological survey are known.