Discovery of the shipwreck of explorer Vasco da Gama

Researchers may have found the wreck of a ship that belonged to the famous Portuguese explorer's fleet on his final voyage.

A shipwreck off the coast of Kenya may be the vessel from one of Vasco da Gama 's pioneering voyages to the Indian Ocean 500 years ago. The wreck, discovered near the Kenyan town of Malindi in 2013, is among eight known Portuguese shipwrecks from that period in the region. Researchers believe it could be the São Jorge, which sank in 1524, although they are not certain of its identity, Live Science reported on November 25. If the wreck is the São Jorge, it would be the oldest European shipwreck in the Indian Ocean, said Filipe Castro, a marine archaeologist at the University of Coimbra in Portugal.

Divers explore the shipwreck area. (Photo: Filipe Castro).

According to research published in the journal Maritime Archaeology, Castro and his colleagues hope to confirm the ship's identity, in part by surveying a reef that stretches north from Malindi to Ras Ngomeni, Kenya, over a distance of 25 kilometers. The wreck lies about 500 meters offshore, at a depth of 6 meters. While it was not possible to see much of the ship amid the coral on the sea floor, Castro and other divers excavated the bow timbers and hull in two trenches they dug at the wreck site.

Da Gama (1469–1524) was a pioneer in sailing from Europe to the Indian Ocean in 1497, when his ship became the first to round the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa. The Spanish explorer made three more voyages along the route before dying in India in 1524, possibly from malaria. His voyages were the foundation of Portuguese trade in the Indian Ocean.

The São Jorge was one of 20 ships that joined da Gama's final expedition in 1524, but sank shortly before his death. New research suggests it was one of two Portuguese ships that initially sank near Malindi, the other being the Nossa Senhora da Graça, which sank in 1544. If the wreck near Malindi is confirmed to be the São Jorge, it would have important historical and symbolic value as evidence of the presence of Vasco da Gama's third fleet in Kenyan waters, Castro said.

Kenyan authorities are very interested in the Malindi wreck and the site could become an underwater museum. The wreck was found by Caesar Bita, an underwater archaeologist at the National Museums of Kenya. Bita also collected copper ingots and ivory from the wreck site. However, further archaeological research is needed to confirm that it is one of da Gama's ships.