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Date Published: 30/10/2024

La Manga scuba diver discovers 200-year-old shipwreck

The steamship recently discovered off the Murcia coast has a hole in it that could have been made by a cannonball

It was mid-October and the conditions for diving in the Mediterranean Sea just off La Manga del Mar Menor were perfect. The sea was calm and the weather warmer than usual for the time of year.

On a routine dive, experienced Spanish scuba diver Isaac Guerrero spotted something out of the ordinary, something no one else had discovered was there.

Lying at the bottom of the Mediterranean, at a depth of around 8 metres, were the remains of a boat.

Stunned at suddenly swimming across something nobody knew was there, Isaac shared photos and videos of his find on the ‘Viviendo La Manga’ Facebook page contacted the authorities to tell them of his discovery.

Straight away, specialists from the National Museum of Underwater Archaeology (ARQUA), based in Cartagena, along with divers from the Guardia Civilwent down to inspect the site for themselves.

And what they found shocked them.

What they saw there did not appear in the list of cultural heritage assets as inventoried by the Regional Ministry of Culture.

In fact, there was no record of it at all. So where had it come from? And how long had it lain there, undisturbed?

There are several other shipwrecks of the coast of Murcia, notably the Phoenician ships Mazarrón I and Mazarrón II lying at the bottom of the Bay of Mazarrón, which are over 2,000 years old and are currently undergoing the process of being dismantled and moved to shore for conservation.

The find in La Manga is not quite as old as that, but it’s still impressive.

According to initial studies by the diving experts who went down to look at it, the wreck likely belongs to a 19th-century steamer.

It’s about 70 metres long and has what looks like a hole in the stern caused by a cannon shot which could have been the reason for its sinking, says Isaac Guerrero.

More diving missions to continue to collect information will be carried out in the coming weeks to fully document the find and decide on its future.

The Regional Ministry of Culture were excited with “the possibility of being faced with a new element of heritage value for the Region” and has taken the necessary first steps to “assess its importance” and “guarantee that any intervention will be carried out with the authorisation of the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage”.

Crucially, experts will also try to shed light on why this vessel has gone unnoticed until now.

On the coast of La Manga del Mar Menor, there are other documented shipwrecks dating from antiquity right through to the 20th century. And it is not unusual for storms to bring previously buried shipwrecks to the surface, which may have happened in this case.

Either way, it is an exciting find not only for diver Isaac Guerrero but for the Region of Murcia as a whole, adding a new piece to its already impressive wealth of historical artefacts.

Images: Isaac Guerrero

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