The wreck was first discovered in 2008 by geologists working for a De Beers subsidiary
Archeologists have confirmed that the wreck uncovered in 2008 by geologists in Namibia is, in fact, the wreckage of a ship that disappeared in 1533.
Geologists for the Namdeb Corp., a joint operation between the government of Namibia and De Beers, found the wreckage in 2008.
The ship has been identified as the Bom Jesus (Good Jesus), a ship that disappeared in 1533 enroute from Lisbon to India.
On board: $13 million in gold coins from Portugal, Spain, and the former Italian city-states of Florence and Venice.
Dieter Noli, chief archaeologist of the Southern Africa Institute of Maritime Archaeological Research, explained to Fox News how the ship was found: “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 seawall 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 seawater out of the lagoon.”
UNESCO has placed the site of the wreck under the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage.
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