Finally Safe


“This is only the second one ever excavated by archaeologists. All the others were plundered by treasure hunters.”

The Sperrgebiet

The shipwreck washed away on the Sperrgebiet coast that always remains heavily guarded. This is the reason treasure hunters refrained from carrying on their hunting work on this site. Consequently, these priceless remains stayed in oblivion for this long.     

Difficult Task

In Dr. Dieter Noli words, “The mining site concerned was actually located in the surf zone, where the violent action of the waves theoretically made mining impossible.” “So what the chaps do is push up a huge sea-wall with bulldozers parallel to the beach, with the ends running back to the beach. The result is a large man-made lagoon, with the surf pounding on the outside.  Then they pump the sea-water out of the lagoon.”

Looking For History

The Namibian government officials and De Beers have quit working on the wreck site in search for diamond and now is assisting the archeologist to dig out more pieces of history. 

Portuguese Trading Vessels

The historians found many interesting objects on the Diamond Shipwreck which means that the coming years were completely packed with the study of those objects. These objects were going to reveal a great deal about the Portuguese trading vessels’ rigging, design, and evolution.

Getting Insights

Manchester University’s professor Timothy Insoll explains, “This is a very significant find, particularly the supporting items like the religious artifacts and clothing, which can give us fascinating insights into what was a very important period of history.”