Perry, does that reference really suggest there were columns of 40 oars with one oarsman on each oar?
Is not the account of the Tessarakonteres subject to a far amount of speculation and debate about how the hulls and oarsman could have been distributed? Even if you accept the dimensions it is more likely it was a catarmaran with multiple oarsman on three banks of oars.
It's also interesting that the WTS have published information that discredits the Ark. I suspect no one considered it when they put it together but check out the September 2013 Awake...
Zheng He’s Treasure Ships—How Large and How Many?
Historical records from the Ming dynasty say that Zheng He’s treasure ships were amazingly large—447 feet (136 m) long and 183 feet (56 m) wide. Scholars find these figures problematic and hard to verify, in that wooden sailing ships in excess of 300 feet (90 m) in length are structurally unsound.
“All indications are that exaggeration has been at work in the accounts that mention the ships’ enormous size,” says one article on the subject. “A ship of about 200-250 ft [60-75 m] would make much more sense than the 450 ft [135 m] one.” Whatever the case, in the 15th century, vessels measuring over 200 feet (60 m) in length were certainly exceptional, and Zheng He’s fleet included up to 62 of them!
