This Shipwreck Could Be From Vasco da Gama’s Final Voyage

Archaeologists believed that they may have found the São Jorge, the famed sunken ship from Vasco da Gama’s final voyage, off the coast of Kenya. This was supported by an investigation on the remains of a shipwreck, first spotted on a coral reef between 2013 and 2016.

Now, researchers have published a new paper in the Journal of Maritime Archaeology detailing their analysis of artifacts recovered by the local community and timbers from the ship's hull and frame that they excavated themselves.

Despite the challenges posed by the shipwreck's condition and location, evidence suggests this Portuguese vessel sank over 500 years ago.

Earlier this year, nautical archaeologist Filipe Castro announced the discovery of a galleon from Vasco da Gama's third armada in shallow waters off the coast of Malindi, Kenya.

While the vessel's identity remains unconfirmed, it is potentially one of eight known Portuguese shipwrecks from that period found in the area. An international team of archaeologists from the University of Coimbra, the National Museum of Kenya, and the Bergen Maritime Museum have narrowed the possibilities down to the São Jorge or the Nossa Senhora da Graça.

"The provisional dates of the artifacts," such as elephant tusks and copper ingots, "point to a shipwreck on the outward journey to India and a shipwreck date in the first quarter of the sixteenth century."

Castro told Live Science that if the wreckage does belong to the São Jorge, "it may be one of the earliest European shipwrecks in the Indian Ocean."

Furthermore, the "treasure," though wrecked, would have "significant historical and symbolic value as a physical testimony to the presence of Vasco da Gama’s third armada in Kenyan waters."

"It’s not every day that you get to be part of something timeless, standing at the edge of history and peering into the depths of our shared past," wrote Faith Milgo, who attended the media launch for the ship in Kenya. "Laden with ivory, copper, and cinnabar, it represented the bustling commerce of a bygone era."