1503 shipwreck off Oman tied to Vasco da Gama

Dubai - The Esmeralda sank during a storm near Al Hallaniyah Island in the Indian Ocean in May 1503, killing commander Vicente Sodre and all aboard.

 The 500-year-old wreckage of a Portuguese ship piloted by an uncle of explorer Vasco da Gama has been found off the coast of Oman, archaeologists said Tuesday, a discovery that included the recovery of an incredibly rare coin.
The Esmeralda sank during a storm near Al Hallaniyah Island in the Indian Ocean in May 1503, killing commander Vicente Sodre and all aboard.
Beginning in 2013, a team from the British company Blue Water Recoveries and the Oman Ministry of Heritage and Culture explored a site in the island's Ghubbat ar Rahib Bay. They later determined the debris found there came from the long-missing ship, one of two lost in the storm from da Gama's second voyage to India.
Among the stone shot, ceramics, a bell and other debris, divers discovered a rare silver coin called an Indio, of which only one other is known to exist today, said David L. Mearns, the director of Blue Water Recoveries.
 

• MENA
• Oman