This Portuguese Ship Carried a $138 Million Treasure, and Its Wreck May Have Finally Been Located After 300 Years

A pair of American archaeologists say they may have found the wreck of a Portuguese ship captured by pirates in 1721, a vessel long tied to a large lost treasure. The claim comes after 16 years of searching off Madagascar’s northeast coast. For now, the identification has not been independently confirmed.

The ship, Nossa Senhora do Cabo, had left India bound for Portugal carrying senior officials, religious figures, and a cargo described in historical records as extremely valuable. Its capture fits into a broader pattern of pirate activity in the Indian Ocean during the early 18th century, when trade routes were regularly targeted.

Thousands of objects recovered from the seabed could help document how goods, people, and religious items moved across Portuguese colonial networks at the time.

A Storm, An Ambush, And A Captured Ship

In 1721, the Nossa Senhora do Cabo was sailing with the Portuguese viceroy and the Archbishop of Goa onboard, along with around 200 enslaved individuals. NearRéunion Island, it was intercepted by pirates led by Olivier Levasseur, known as “The Buzzard.”

According to the report published in Center for Historic Shipwreck Preservation, the ship had already been damaged by a storm, which made it easier to take. The pirates captured it without much resistance and then sailed it roughly 400 miles west to Nosy Boraha, known at the time as Île Sainte-Marie.

Historical descriptions reported by Live Science list cargo that included gold and silver bars, coins, silks, and hundreds of gemstones, among them diamonds and emeralds. The scale of the shipment helps explain why the story has persisted for so long.

Sixteen Years of Searching Underwater

Archaeologists Brandon Clifford and Mark Agostini say they located the wreck after years of sonar work and remote sensing. Their results were published in Wreckwatch Magazine, where they describe recovering more than 3,300 artifacts from the site.

“In spite of extensive historical records describing the Nossa Senhora do Cabo‘s capture and its eventual sinking, the precise location of the shipwreck has remained uncertain, sparking debate among historians and archaeologists alike,” the Center for Historic Shipwreck Preservation explained.

Among the recovered items are religious objects believed to have come from Goa, including statuettes of the Virgin Mary and plaques referring to Jesus of Nazareth. There are also pottery fragments and gold coins with Arabic inscriptions, some still buried under sand and silt on the seafloor.

Where Did the Wealth Go?

Not all of the valuables ended up underwater. Historical records indicate that Levasseur and his crew removed a large share of the treasure before abandoning the ship. Some items, along with the captured viceroy, were later returned to Lisbon as part of a ransom.

As reported by the same source, there is no clear record of what happened to the archbishop or the 200 enslaved individuals who were onboard. The area around Nosy Boraha was known as a base for pirate operations during that period. Calm waters and limited colonial control made it a practical location. Clifford said there could be as many as 10 shipwrecks in the area, with several possibly located in the same harbor. Agostini noted that

“The site has historically been overlooked by researchers,” he added, “and so there’s ample room for more discoveries that give us a glimpse into the past.”

That leaves open the possibility that more material, and more information, could still be found nearby.

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