Morocco: Discovery of a sunken 17th century pirate ship

This is the first time that the remains of such a ship have been found in this area.

The ship was found off the coast of Morocco, Live Science reported. It was well-armed and probably headed toward the Spanish coast. Researchers theorize that the pirates were planning raids at sea, but their ship sank en route.

A rather unusual cargo was discovered on board. The newspaper reported that the ship carried kitchen utensils and other metal tools, manufactured in modern-day Algeria.

Researchers believe that the shipment was merely a disguise. The pirates may have tried to pass themselves off as ordinary merchants to avoid being attacked by warships.

“The wreck is the first Algerian pirate ship ever found in the heart of the Barbary region,” said marine archaeologist Sean Kingsley, one of the investigators of the discovery.

The remains of the pirate ship were found by a team from Florida-based Odyssey Marine Exploration. It was first discovered in 2005. But the wreck site wasn’t particularly interesting to researchers, who were looking for the 80-gun English warship HMS Sussex, which sank in the same area in 1694.

Now, marine archaeologists have returned to the wreck, examined it and described it as a pirate ship. “As with any shipwreck, we are discovering many previously unknown wrecks,” said expedition leader Greg Stemm.

Source: TASS