Wellington, Apr 3 : A Kiwi company has embarked on a mission to determine whether something buried under ice on Turkey's Mt Ararat could be Noah's Ark.

Global Intelligence Solutions, which specialises in forensic imagery, has been asked by American professor Porcher Taylor to help examine satellite images of what a US team believes is a 300 metre long ship lying on its side under the ice.

Director Rod McCourt said that the object cannot be seen clearly because of the layer of ice and the Turkish government will not allow ground teams in.

However he said that they have already determined the anomaly could be man-made because of its symmetry and evenness of shape.

Some believe the remains of the ark are inside the symmetrical shelf, because its dimensions fit those given to Noah in the Bible book of Genesis.

"Generally in nature things aren’t symmetrical, so it’s unusual. In 50 years of study no one has turned around and said it’s definitely not the ark,” Stuff. co. nz quoted McCourt, as saying.

"So that’s why it’s interesting. We’re now at the stage of trying to prove it is the ark,” he added. (ANI)