Research excavations began in 1986 under Dr. Elpida Hadjidaki of the Greek Archaeological Service of Chania. From 1988 through 1990 they were done in collaboration with Frank J. Frost of the University of California, Santa Barbara, and have continued under the direction of Hadjidaki. Major items excavated to date include five towers that were part of the fortifications encircling the harbor. All of them have a distinctive rounded molding () at a point where the foundation narrows to support the upper part of the monument. One tower is circular, preserved to a height of 4.5 m, strengthened inside by two cross-walls filled with rubble, and connected through a 50 m long curtain wall to a rectangular tower. The other fortification towers surrounding the port are also rectangular, and the stones of their exterior faces have drafted edges. A fortified gate was connected to walls that in one direction surround a secondary basin behind the main military harbor, and in another direction extend towards the acropolis. This wall ends in another rectangular tower. From this point a paved road departs for the acropolis, and right next to it is a room filled with stone baths. The secondary basin is lined by a quay 30 m long with a slipway at one end, and a row of structures at the other that the excavator suggests may be more slipways.