Bom Jesus
Marker: recorded wreck position (Date not recorded).
Key facts
| Name | Bom Jesus | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Ship type | carrack, Nau | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Sea / ocean | South Atlantic Ocean | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | South Africa | Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 5 km from land |
| Position | -28.5994, 16.3975 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
The Bom Jesus was a Portuguese nau and Indiaman that set sail from Lisbon, Portugal, on Friday, March 7, 1533. Its fate was unknown until 2008, when its remains were discovered during diamond mining operations on the coast of Namibia, near Oranjemund. Today, the Bom Jesus is the oldest known and most valuable shipwreck ever discovered off the Western coast of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Diving & visiting
Until 2017 the mining town of Oranjemund on the Atlantic coast was run by Namdeb, a company jointly owned by the Namibian government and the diamond mining and trading company De Beers. On April 1, 2008, Kaapanda Shadika, an employee of De Beers, discovered a collection of copper ingots and remnants of elephant ivory while excavating an inshore area licensed to the company. Upon further inspection, archaeologist Dieter Noli, a contractor of the De Beers company, concluded that the shipwreck was of ancient origin and enlisted the help of maritime archaeologist Bruno Werz of the South African Institute of Maritime Archaeology (SAIMA).
Currently, work is underway to preserve and display the remains of the ship and all of its cargo in a public museum in Lisbon, Portugal. However, a lack of funding and permission from Namibian authorities has kept the ship's remains on-site in Oranjemund, storing a majority of the cargo and hull of the Bom Jesus in saltwater tanks for preservation until they can be safely transported.
Location
- Recorded position: -28.5994, 16.3975 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: South Atlantic Ocean
- Nearest coast: South Africa
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Bom Jesus (ship) (revision 1364730194), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Initial discovery”, “Preservation of the Bom Jesus”; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
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