Major historical artefacts to be recovered in accordance with international archaeological standards - National Monuments Council [Cape Town, 22 September 1999]. Important historical artefacts will soon be recovered from the Brederode shipwreck, off the Cape Agulhus coast, using highly sophisticated and specialised equipment in South Africa's first-ever deep water, hi-tech archaeological excavation.

It is expected that the excavation, which may cost up to US$3 million, will get underway in February 2000.

The Brederode, a Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oost Indische Compagnie or VOC) vessel, sank on 5 May 1785 after striking an uncharted reef off the Cape Agulhus coast, about 200kms from Cape Town, South Africa. The vessel, now lying in 65 metres of water, 10 kilometres off the coast, was carrying a valuable cargo of tea, spices, satin and linen cloth, porcelain, tin and gold.

A Project Steering Committee with the National Monuments Council, South African Maritime Museum, Aqua Exploration and Hallstrom Holdings has been established to guide and control the excavation of the site.

Maritime archaeologist, John Gribble from the National Monuments Council and chairman of the Brederode Excavation Steering Committee, said the Brederode project is unique in South Africa, not only from an archaeological perspective, but also because of the method of operation.

"The Brederode is a valuable maritime archaeological resource and is protected by the National Monuments Act from any unauthorised disturbance," Gribble said.

"It will be the first time in South Africa that such a hi-tech, deep water excavation will be undertaken conforming to international archaeological standards", Gribble said.

"Valuable historical artefacts of significant cultural and archaeological importance recovered from the wreck will be housed in the South African Maritime Museum for all South Africans to enjoy"

Jaco Boshoff, the chief maritime archaeologist working on the Brederode excavation on behalf of the South African Maritime Museum, said investigations using sophisticated and specialised equipment shows a flat site with little structure visible above the sand.

"However, because we believe that the Brederode sank slowly onto a sandy bottom, it is hoped that substantial portions of her hull will be well preserved under the sand, and yield a wealth of archaeological and historical information," Boshoff said.

"Also visible on the seabed is one of the most important and valued items on any wreck site - the ship's bell. This is the key to the positive identification of a wreck, as bells were generally cast with the date and maker's name in the same year as a vessel is completed. Among other artefacts visible are two bronze cannons, porcelain and tin."

"The successful archaeological excavation of a site at a depth of 65 metres poses immense challenges, but will contribute to international knowledge about VOC ships, as well as the archaeological excavation of deep-sea shipwrecks"

Charles Shapiro and his partners began the search for the Brederode in 1982. They formed the Cape Town-based group Aqua Exploration in 1984 which consisted of Erik Lombard, Andre Hartman, Mike Keulemans, and Charles and Mickey Shapiro.

"After several years of combing archives in the Netherlands, United Kingdom and in South Africa on behalf of a group of salvors for further information on the location of two other wrecks, I came across valuable information relating to a shipwreck named the Brederode," said Charles Shapiro.

"In 1991, Andre obtained vital information from a trawler fisherman who mentioned that his nets had snagged on wreckage while bottom trawling, and a wooden pulley block was brought to the surface.

"On the strength of this, we planned a side scan sonar survey around the approximate position and were successful in getting a side scan sonar image and magnetometer reading but could not identify the wreck site in 65 metres of water."

Between 1991 and 1997, Shapiro contracted several professional surveying companies to positively identify the site, but due to equipment failure, adverse weather and various other factors, was unsuccessful. In 1998, Singapore-based Sverker Hallstrom, a professional shipwreck explorer, joined forces with Aqua Exploration and the shipwreck was positively identified with the help of his vessel "Scorpio", which was fully equipped with a global positioning system, magnetometer, side scan sonar and remote operated vehicle camera.

"When I learned that Aqua Exploration had been looking for the wreck for a long time and that Charlie had a pre-disturbance survey permit for the Brederode, it made sense to explore the possibility of a collaboration," Hallstrom said.

The safest and most practical way to work at 65 metres depth will be with the use of a saturation diving system. Divers are compressed to a little above the working depth in a master chamber on board a vessel, and then lowered to the sea-bed in a bell.

A team of specialist divers will be used for the excavation and can stay in this closed system for as long as required, which can be up to 20 days at a time, after which only one decompression period is needed.

Due to the expected cold and dark conditions underwater, divers will be equipped with hot water suits and artificial lighting.

According to the Captain's report of the incident, the Brederode sank on 5 May 1785 after striking an uncharted reef some 10 kilometres off the coast of Cape Agulhus. While 80 people safely abandoned the sinking ship, 12 people were accidentally left on board. On landing, the life boats were cast high and dry by the heavy breakers and could not be put back into the water to save the remaining 12 persons left on the Brederode.

Read more about the Brederode