ARCHAEOLOGISTS from Bournemouth University have helped excavate a Portuguese ship wrecked on a remote island off the coast of Oman in 1503.

The team of experts, along with maritime archaeologists from Oman’s Ministry of Heritage and Culture (MHC) and Blue Water Recoveries (BWR) Ltd worked on the ship, which is believed to be a part of Vasco da Gama’s 1502-1503 Armada to India.

The wreck site by BWR in 1998, with archaeological surveys and excavations beginning in 2013, led by the BU team.

The ship is believed to be the nau Esmerelda commanded by Vicente Sodré, who was the maternal uncle of famed explorer Vasco da Gama, the first European to reach India by sea.

De Gama's discovery of the sea route to India in 1498 has been described as 'one of the most important events recorded in the history of mankind.'  

It was another 100 years before the Dutch or the English made it that far, by which time the Portuguese had almost total control of the spice trade with India.

But four years after de Gama's discovery, the Portuguese had not yet managed to make large amounts of money from the route, instead becoming embroiled in violence with Muslim ships.

So de Gama was charged leading another fleet of ships to take revenge on the Muslim leader, with Vicente Sodre in the Esmerelda a vital part of the mission.

Sodre and his brother were supposed to patrol the south Indian coast, but instead went in search of rich Muslim trading ships to attack and plunder. By 1503 they had made their way to an island of Oman to repair the hull of one of their ships.

Local fishermen warned them of an impending storm that meant they should move their fleet, but Sodre thought the Esmerelda was strong enough to withstand the winds. 

He was wrong, and the Esmerelda and its sister ship were smashed to pieces, and the crew of the Esmerelda drowned.

The shipwreck held a number of artefacts of archaeological significance, including a copper-alloy disc marked with the Portuguese coat of arms, a bronze bell with an inscription that suggests the date of the ship was 1498 and a number of gold cruzado coins minted in Lisbon between 1495 and 1501.

Dave Parham, archaeological director on the project and associate professor at BU said excavating the ship was “an incredible experience”.

“It is a very remote part of the world, and the environmental conditions were stunning - excellent visibility underwater and some amazing marine life; we even saw humpback whales this year.

“The site itself is actually incredibly well preserved; the material that we found includes cargo and historically significant items.”

The ship, which sank in a storm in May 1503 off of a remote island in the Sultanate of Oman, is the earliest ship from Europe’s Age of Discovery ever to be found and scientifically excavated.

The excavation is also of significance as the first to have taken place in Oman, and something that the Omani government were keen to be involved with.

The route taken by the ship is an early example of the establishing trade routes between Europe and India, along with wider routes to Asia.

Mr Parham explained: “It’s the oldest European shipwreck in that part of the world, it is a very early European maritime contact with the Indian Ocean and the East. Those trading networks turned into some of the most significant modern trading networks - this ship was a trailblazer really.”

The university have also worked on other historically significant shipwrecks. In 2010, they excavated the Swash Channel Wreck, which is thought to have been a Dutch trading ship that sank in the early 17th century. To find out more about the project visit esmereldashipwreck.com.