#Strait of Gibraltar

[homeisaplaceinthehills]

The picture was taken in the waters of the Strait of Gibraltar.

The subtle transition between sea and sky unveils the distant allure of the coastline, gracefully intertwined with the turbulent waters near the port of Tarifa, the southernmost tip of Europe. 2014

This is my first print available at Darkroom. You can still find some other images and products at Society6 shop.

instagram | flickr | society6 | darkroom

[blueiscoool]

17th-Century Pirate 'Corsair' Shipwreck Discovered off Morocco

Wreck-hunters have discovered the remains of a small 17th-century pirate ship, known as a Barbary corsair, in deep water between Spain and Morocco.

The wreck is "the first Algiers corsair found in the Barbary heartland," maritime archaeologist Sean Kingsley, the editor-in-chief of Wreckwatch magazine and a researcher on the find, told Live Science.

The vessel was heavily armed and may have been heading to the Spanish coast to capture and enslave people when it sank, its discoverers said.

But it was carrying a cargo of pots and pans made in the North African city of Algiers, probably so that it could masquerade as a trading vessel.

Florida-based company Odyssey Marine Exploration (OME) located the shipwreck in 2005 during a search for the remains of the 80-gun English warship HMS Sussex, which was lost in the area in 1694.

"As so often happens in searching for a specific shipwreck we found a lot of sites never seen before," Greg Stemm, the founder of OME and the expedition leader, saide in an email.

The 2005 expedition also found the wrecks of ancient Roman and Phoenician ships in the area, Stemm said.

News of the corsair wreck is only being released now, in a new article by Stemm in Wreckwatch, after extensive historical research.

Dread pirates

The Barbary corsair pirates were predominantly Muslims who began operating in the 15th century out of Algiers, which was then part of the Ottoman empire.

Much of the western coastline of North Africa, from modern-day Morocco to Libya, was known as the "Barbary Coast" at the time — a name derived from the Berber people who lived there; and its pirates were a major threat for more than 200 years, preying on ships and conducting slave raids along the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts of Europe.

The people captured in the slave raids were held for ransom or sold into the North African slave trade that operated in some Muslim countries until the early 20th century.

But the piratical activities of the Barbary corsairs came to an end in the early 19th century, when the pirates were defeated in the Barbary Wars by the United States, Sweden and the Norman Kingdom of Sicily in southern Italy.

Sunken ship

The corsair wreck lies on the seafloor in the Strait of Gibraltar, at a depth of about 2,700 feet (830 meters).

The ship was about 45 feet (14 m) long, and research indicates it was a tartane — a small ship with triangular lateen sails on two masts that could also be propelled by oars.

Tartanes were used by Barbary pirates in the 17th and 18th centuries, in part because they were often mistaken for fishing vessels, meaning other ships wouldn't suspect pirates were onboard, Kingsley said.

"I've seen tartanes described as 'low-level pirate ships,' which I like,” Kingsley said.

The wreck hunters explored the sunken corsair using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), which revealed the vessel was armed with four large cannons, 10 swivel guns and many muskets for its crew of about 20 pirates.

"The wreck neatly fits the profile of a Barbary corsair in location and character," Kingsley said. "The seas around the Straits of Gibraltar were the pirates' favorite hunting grounds, where a third of all corsair prizes were taken."

Stemm added that the wrecked ship was also equipped with a very rare "spyglass" — an early type of telescope that was revolutionary at the time and had probably been captured from a European ship.

Other artifacts of the wreck support the notion this was a pirate ship laden with stolen goods.

"Throw into the sunken mix a collection of glass liquor bottles made in Belgium or Germany, and tea bowls made in Ottoman Turkey, and the wreck looks highly suspicious," he said. "This was no normal North African coastal trader."

By Tom Metcalfe.

[beatrack92]

Hercules creating the Strait of Gibraltar

[optikestrav]

England in Morocco

Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe

St Andrew's (constructred 1894)

Caroline.... never dreamed ..... wrong would triumph...

© optikestrav

[wigmund]

They're back at it and we love 'em for it.

[onarangel]

Gibraltar

[truegeorge]

The Strait of Gibraltar

In this experience I was in my living room when I heard a door being opened. My son was away for the weekend, so there was no one else in the apartment, except for me and the cat, and the cat was sleeping. This made me curious to know as to who or what is opening the door. I kind of peaked and saw that there was a figure moving about as if it was living in the apartment. It seems that figure…

[spotlightstory]

A small* yacht SANK Sunday in the Strait of Gibraltar following an interaction with an unspecified number of orcas..

*the vessel was a 15-meter (50-foot) Alboran Cognac yacht

The passengers reported feeling sudden blows to the hull and rudder before the boat started taking on water. 

According to the research group GT Atlantic Orca, which tracks populations of the Iberian orca sub-species, there have been nearly 700 interactions since orca attacks on ships in the region were first reported in May 2020.

5/14/24

[spaingibraltarchannel]

MORGES Bulk Carrier Strait of Gibaltar 19 Feb 2024

BULK CARRIER 181.1M X 30M 2011 22,697 Gross 35,693 Deadweight

Full videos on YouTube channel Ships at the Strait of Gibraltar #ShipsAtTheStraitOfGibraltar #ShipSpotting #Maritime #Ships #VesselSpotting #ShipPhotography #BoatSpotting #PortSpotting #Nautical #MarineTraffic #Seafaring #Gibraltar #VisitGibraltar #RockOfGibraltar #GibraltarRock #GibraltarHistory #GibraltarNationalDay #GibraltarSunset #GibraltarViews #GibraltarSea #GibraltarLife

[thetruearchmagos]

Of all the very hard worldbuilding posts I foresee myself writing, the one labelled 'Influence Of Warp Travel On Maritime Shipping And Chokepoints' has got to be in the top 10%.

[cctinsleybaxter]

also i rented the director's cut of das boot because the subtitles on both copies i (very legally) had were busted, and the trivia popups were taking me the fuck out

[awritersbro]

Finding out that Azur & Asmar was a French film and not a Spanish film as I had always assumed was one of those minor revelations that doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things but at the same time shifted my entire sense of self just slightly.

[heritageposts]

Two of the world's biggest shipping firms have suspended all journeys through the Red Sea following a surge of recent attacks on vessels. Danish giant Maersk said it would "pause" all container shipments until further notice after a near-miss involving its Maersk Gibraltar ship on Thursday. Meanwhile, German firm Hapag-Lloyd said it was also halting sailings until at least Monday after one of its ships was targeted on Friday. A spokesperson added: "Then we will decide for the period thereafter." It comes following a string of attacks claimed by Yemen's Houthi rebels in the Bab al Mandeb Strait, at the southern end of the Red Sea. The group has vowed to target vessels which it believes are heading to and from Israel, in an attempt to put pressure on the country to stop bombing the Gaza Strip amid its war with Hamas.

. . . continues at Sky News, Des 15 2023.

[zvaigzdelasas]

[BBC is UK State Media]

A vessel suspected by the Namibian authorities to be carrying military cargo intended for Israeli use in the ongoing war in Gaza has been blocked from docking in the southern African country.

Namibian Justice Minister Yvonne Dausab told state media the ship was stopped because it had “explosive material destined for Israel".

The MV Kathrin, which set off from Vietnam, had requested permission to dock in the port of Walvis Bay – before sailing north, on a suspected route towards the Mediterranean via the Strait of Gibraltar.

Rights groups had warned that Namibia could have been implicated in potential human rights violations had it allowed the vessel to dock.[...]

The MV Kathrin, which was set to dock at Walvis Bay on Monday from Vietnam, was stopped in accordance with Namibia's support for the Palestinian people and the country’s call for an end to the violence in Gaza, Ms Dausab told the state-run New Era news website.

Citing a police investigation, Ms Dausab said the vessel was "indeed carrying explosive material destined for Israel, and was therefore prohibited from entering Namibian waters". “Namibia complies with our obligation not to support or be complicit in Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, as well as its unlawful occupation of Palestine,” she said.[...]

Namibian human rights organisation the Economic and Social Justice Trust (ESJT) welcomed the move.

"We are pleased that our government has decided to respect international law and decided not to be complicit to genocide," ESJT's Herbert Jauch told the BBC[...]

Namport has not responded to the BBC for comment about the MV Kathrin.

The real stewards of the International Rules Based Order [27 Aug 24]