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A wreck off the coast of Kenya may have been a ship from one of Vasco da Gama ’s pioneer voyages into the Indian Ocean 500 old age ago , archaeologists say .
The stiff of the vessel , which were find out near the Kenyan town of Malindi in 2013 , are among eight known Lusitanian shipwrecks from this period in the area . Researchers mean it may be the São Jorge , which sank in 1524 , although the recognition is not certain .
The wreck lies about 1,600 feet from the shore, at a depth of about 20 feet; it may be developed as an underwater museum for divers.
If the shipwreck is the São Jorge , it may be one of the earliest European shipwrecks in the Indian Ocean , but " we do n’t have it off for sure,“Filipe Castro , a maritime archaeologist at the University of Coimbra in Portugal and lead author of a new cogitation describing the recent employment , told Live Science .
grant to the sketch , published Nov. 18 in theJournal of Maritime Archaeology , Castro and his colleague now desire to control their designation , in part by conduct an archaeologic survey of the coral reefs that stretch northerly from Malindi to Ras Ngomeni , Kenya — a distance of about 15 miles ( 25 kilometer ) .
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Underwater archaeologists think the wreck is the São Jorge, a Portuguese ship that sank in 1524 during Vasco de Gama’s final voyage into the Indian Ocean.
The wreck lies about 1,640 feet ( 500 time ) from the shore , at a depth of about 20 feet ( 6 meters ) . Little of it can be see to it amid coral on the sea floor , but Castro and other divers unearthed timbers from the ship ’s hull and frame in two archaeological oceanic abyss they made at the submerse land site .
Portugal to India
Da Gama ( live circa 1469 to 1524 ) pioneered the road from Europe into the Indian Ocean in 1497 , when his ship was the first to round the Cape of Good Hope at the southern backsheesh of Africa . The Portuguese explorer made three more journey along the route before his dying in India in 1524 , possibly frommalaria , and his geographic expedition were the groundwork of the Portuguese trading empire in the Indian Ocean .
The São Jorge was one of about 20 ship that joined da Gama for his final ocean trip in 1524 , but it sank briefly before his death . The new study suggests it was one of two early Lusitanian ships that sank near Malindi ; the other was Nossa Senhora da Graça , which start down in 1544 .
If the shipwreck near Malindi can be confirmed as the São Jorge , it would have " significant historical and symbolic value as strong-arm testimony to the presence of Vasco da Gama ’s third armada in Kenyan water , " Castro saidin a statementearlier this year .
" I think this is a unique shipwreck , " he told Live Science . " It is a treasure . "
Mystery wreck
Kenyan authority were interested in the Malindi shipwreck , Castro said , and the website may be developed as an underwater museum .
The shipwreck was discovered in 2013 byCaesar Bita , an underwater archeologist at the National Museums of Kenya , who recuperate copper block of metal and elephant tusks from the subaquatic situation . Bita is now helping to organise the ongoing investigating , Castro said .
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The wreck would be " archaeological stardust " if it prove to be the São Jorge , saidSean Kingsley , a maritime archeologist and the editor in chief ofWreckwatch magazine , who is not involved in the project .
" Kenya was a theatrical production post for tapping into the dazzle wonders of the Indies , " so any early European shipwreck establish there are " hot property , " he say Live Science in an e-mail .
However , further archaeological investigations will be necessary to specify whether this was one of da Gama ’s ships . " This is one shipwreck that scream out for auspices , regard and tutelage before its back story vanishes forever and a day , " Kingsley said .
