A chance discovery near Nosy Boraha tells a swashbuckling story of storm damage, ruthless raiders, and a trove worth today’s fortune.
The long‑lost Nossa Senhora do Cabo—Our Lady of the Cape—has finally been identified on the Indian Ocean seafloor, ending centuries of mystery about one of history’s boldest pirate hijackings.
After weeks of careful dives, archaeologists from the Center for Historic Shipwreck Preservation matched hull timbers, cannons, and cargo remnants to records from 1721, when the 700‑ton warship left Goa for Lisbon packed with gold, silver, fine textiles, and religious relics—and carrying the outgoing viceroy, the archbishop of Goa, and some 200 enslaved Mozambicans.
Historic documents and underwater artifacts converge to confirm the warship’s true identity and extraordinary final voyage
Researchers Brandon Clifford and Mark Agostini pieced together logbooks, Portuguese naval archives, and fresh sonar images to rule out other wrecks in the area. Their verdict: the battered hull lying 50 feet down is indeed the Nossa Senhora do Cabo. Consequently, a chapter of colonial maritime trade is being rewritten.
What tipped the scales? An ivory plaque etched “INRI,” a partial ship’s bell stamped with 1720, and gun carriages sized for cannons jettisoned during a storm just days before the pirate attack. Who could argue with evidence that precise?
Pirate raid during the golden age of piracy left a legacy of lost riches and unanswered human stories
On April 8, 1721, infamous corsairs Olivier Levasseur and John Taylor cornered the storm‑weary vessel off Réunion Island, then forced it 400 miles west to their hide‑out—“one of the baddest pirate lairs on Earth,” contemporary accounts sneer. The crew, short on cannon power, surrendered; the raiders stripped most valuables before scuttling the ship to hide their tracks.
Yet questions linger: what became of the enslaved people and the high‑ranking clergy taken hostage? Only the viceroy’s $2,000 ransom appears in records, leaving historians hunting for more clues.
Key artifacts already logged by the dive team include:
- Gold cruzado coins bearing Arabic inscriptions
- Porcelain shards traced to Qing‑dynasty kilns
- Silver chalices and reliquaries
- Hand‑forged shackles, grim reminders of forced labor
These finds, now under conservation, promise insights into 18th‑century trade, faith, and exploitation.
More than 3,300 recovered pieces shed light on colonial wealth flows while four nearby wrecks await exploration
In fact, scientists suspect the sandy lagoon holds at least four additional pirate prizes, each a potential time capsule of global commerce and conflict. First, however, the team must stabilize fragile timbers already softening after three centuries under silt.
| Year | Milestone on the Nossa Senhora do Cabo timeline |
|---|---|
| 1721 (early) | Departs Goa for Lisbon laden with treasure |
| April 8, 1721 | Pirates seize ship off Réunion Island |
| Mid‑April 1721 | Vessel scuttled near Île Sainte‑Marie (Nosy Boraha) |
| 2025 | Wreck positively identified after multi‑year survey |
Don’t grab a metal detector just yet. Madagascar’s heritage laws protect the site, and any further excavation will be strictly scientific. Nevertheless, the story reignites public fascination with the golden age of piracy—and reminds us that the sea still guards secrets waiting to surface.