An international diving team is investigating whether the wreck found in Martinhal bay is that of the silver-laden Pedro Díaz smuggling ship that sank in a storm in 1608.
The ship had silver hidden in its official cargo of sugar and had set out from Argentina when it encountered a violent storm, sought shelter along the Algarve’s coastline but sank with all cargo lost.
The international team of marine archaeologists, photographers and volunteer divers now have begun their exploration of the site in Martinhal Bay near Baleeira, Sagres and are all part of 'Projeto Navio Pedro Dias' which is attempting to determine if the remains of a promising shipwreck discovered two years ago are those of the doomed Pedro Díaz.
The 'Projeto Navio Pedro Dias' has been logging finds and mapping the site which is made more complicated as the remains of several wrecks lie in the same spot, a notorious area for ships that sought shelter ending up on the ocean floor.
The research to date has not been able to prove the wreck is that of the Pedro Díaz but the discovery of two cannon and other relics from that era indicate that the team may now be on the right track.
If the ship is indeed the Pedro Díaz, this would be a significant discovery as aspects of C17th shipbuilding may be able to be studied afresh as a ship of this design has never before been discovered.
The Pedro Díaz was light with a shallow draft, a mix between a brig and a schooner, and was initially designed as a warship. Later on these craft were used for transport of passengers and provisions with a capacity of 30 tonnes.
The project for the study of the seabed and the location of the Pedro Díaz is a collaboration between O Centro de Investigação Naval (CINAV), the Institute of Nautical Archaeology of the United States, the Centre for History of Aquém e d'Além-Mar of New University in Lisbon, the University of the Açores, Vila do Bispo concil, Subnauta and the Associação Dinamika.
Sadly the team is not on a recession beating treasure hunt as records from the time indictae that workers later rowed out to the site and dived repeatedly to recover the hidden silver, with a substantial reward for any recovered.
