The ancient boat from the Sea of Galilee was discovered in 1986 and excavated by S. Wachsmann and K. Raveh on behalf of the Marine Archaeology Unit.  The hull was studied in situ by J. R. Steffy and was conserved by O. Cohen. The vessel was packed with fiberglass and polyurethane, and was then floated and dragged up the coast to the Yigal Alon Museum near Kibbutz Ginnosar where a conservation pool was built for it.

The extant hull remains are 8.2 m long and 2.3 m wide. Its original dimensions are estimated to have been 8.8 m long and 2.5 m beam. Based on  its construction, C14 dates and pottery, the boat is dated to between the 1^st century BC and the 1^st century AD. It was built by the shell-first method, in the common Mediterranean technique of the time. The frames were added only after the hull had been completed and the planks were held together with mortise-and-tenon joints.