Shipwreck hunters have discovered the remains of a 14-meter pirate ship that was specifically used for slave trading in the deep waters between Spain and Morocco.
This new discovery is the wreck of a pirate ship that is the first to be found in the heartland of the Barbary region, according to marine archaeologist Sean Kingsley. The ship was heavily armed and was likely headed towards the Spanish coastline to capture slaves when it sank, as reported by Live Science on August 5. However, the ship was carrying goods such as pots and pans produced in the city of Algiers in North Africa, possibly to disguise itself as a merchant vessel.
Cargo on the 17th-century Barbary pirate ship. (Photo: Seascape Artifact Exhibits Inc)
The Florida-based company Odyssey Marine Exploration (OME) discovered the shipwreck in 2005 while surveying the site of the British warship HMS Sussex, which had been lost in the area in 1694. The 2005 expedition also uncovered the remains of Roman and Phoenician ships, according to Greg Stemm, the founder of OME and the head of the expedition.
News of the pirate shipwreck was recently published in Stemm’s article in the journal Wreckwatch after thorough research. The Barbary pirates, primarily Muslims, began their activities in the 15th century off the coast of Algiers, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire. Most of the western North African coastline, from present-day Morocco to Libya, was referred to as the Barbary Coast during that time, a name derived from the Berber people living in the region. The pirates posed a significant threat for over 200 years, specializing in ship capture and slave trading along the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts of Europe.
People captured as slaves were either ransomed or sold in slave markets across North Africa, continuing in several Islamic countries until the early 20th century. However, the activities of the Barbary pirates came to an end in the early 19th century when they were defeated in the Barbary Wars against the United States, Sweden, and the Kingdom of Sicily, which was ruled by Normans in southern Italy.
The pirate ship is located at the bottom of the Strait of Gibraltar, at a depth of 830 meters. The vessel, measuring 14 meters in length, featured triangular sails on two large masts and could also be propelled by oars. This type of ship was used by Barbary pirates in the 17th and 18th centuries, partly because it could easily be mistaken for a fishing vessel, making other ships unaware that pirates were aboard, according to Kingsley.
Shipwreck hunters explored the underwater wreck using remote-operated vehicles (ROVs). The findings revealed that the ship was equipped with four large cannons, ten smaller cannons, and several muskets for a crew of around 20 pirates. The ship also carried a spyglass, an advanced type of telescope for that era. Other artifacts found on the wreck support the hypothesis that this was a pirate ship laden with stolen goods.
