Twenty years after they discovered a sunken pirate ship in the Mediterranean Sea, the booty-hunters are telling the public more about what they found.
And oh, they found marvelous things. At a depth of 2,700 feet, treasure seekers found a ship about 45 feet long that they believe was used by Muslim pirates called Barbary corsairs. These pirates plied their trade in waters off of North Africa and were famous for sieging European ships and stealing their cargo.
The preserved glass bottles and ceramic pots match known examples from the 18th century, said Sean Kingsley, who is editor of Wreckwatch magazine, a publication devoted entirely to shipwrecks. The company who discovered the ship in 2005 is Odyssey Marine Exploration out of Florida.
Kingsley said the bowls discovered on the ship were made in the Ottoman Empire, but that style was no longer made after 1755, which helps narrow down the possible date of the shipwreck. As for the bottles, Kingsley said that they were made between 1740 and 1760 “at latest.”
One of the next steps will be to analyze the ship’s wooden hull for more clues about its origins and its age.
Odyssey uses a 250-foot-long ship to explore, and it doubles as a laboratory and research vessel. They parked the ship above the spot where the pirate ship sank and deployed a remotely operated underwater vehicle. The submersible was able to pick through the debris and start to separate out archaeological finds of interest.
Wreckwatch’s Kingsley said this is the first known shipwreck containing artifacts that can be traced directly to Algeria. Along with the bowls, bottles, and pottery, the ship also contained war weapons. The ship itself was equipped with muskets, 10 swivel guns, and four heavy duty cannons. The weapons could be quickly maneuvered into place on orders from the captain when an opportunity to besiege another ship arose.
What is left to study is only a third of the ship; the rest has been consumed by the sea and its creatures over time. Researchers believe the pirate ship was on its way to Spain on a slaving and raiding mission.
