Shipwrecks of the Ningaloo Reef: maritime archaeological projects from 1978–2009.

Author/s Green, J.N.

Year of publication 2011

Report Number: No. 14

The study of the Ningaloo Reef area has been a focus of the Department of Maritime Archaeology for a number of years. The initial major involvement followed the discovery of the American China trader, Rapid in 1978 and the subsequent  excavations. This work is described here briefly, as it will be the subject of a major excavation report in the future. Following the excavation of the Rapid (between 1978 and 1982), Point Cloates was the subject of a series of searches for the Correio da Azia (1987 and 1999). In 1997, during the search for the Correio da Azia, the wreck of the Stefano was fortuitously discovered. Following these early searches, a more sophisticated system of searching was introduced. With the support from Fugro Survey, an aerial magnetometer survey was undertaken of the whole of Ningaloo Reef south of Point Cloates to about 22БЛ 40'S. This was a huge undertaking and revealed, almost immediately, two wreck sites, one of which was the Correio da Azia. What was interesting, is that the second site was a completely unknown site, which to this day is still to be identified. This has underlined the problems of identification of sites that are relatively modern, and which, at least in the case of the unidentified site, dated to the second half of the 19th century, should, in theory, have records of its loss. However, one must remember that this area of coast was relatively remote and there was always the possibility of vessels being lost without trace. This report, therefore, is a compilation of area studies, archaeological and conservation studies of wreck sites and the investigation of records relating to known, but yet to be discovered sites. It is divided into three parts: general studies; known shipwrecks; and, for the sake of completeness, all the known losses in the area up to the modern day.