They wanted to kidnap people and sell them into slavery: the wreck of a 17th century pirate ship found in Morocco. Photo and video

The wreckage of a well-armed 17th century pirate ship has been discovered off the coast of Berberi in Morocco. Scientists speculate that the ship was headed for the Spanish coast to capture people and sell them into slavery.

Experts say the wreck is the first Algerian corsair found in the center of Berberi. To disguise itself as a merchant ship, it was carrying pots and pans made in the North African city of Algiers, LiveScience writes.

Florida-based Odyssey Marine Exploration (OME) discovered the shipwreck in 2005 while searching for the remains of the 80-gun English warship HMS Sussex, which sank in the area in 1694. However, it is only now, after thorough historical research, that scientists have presented their find.

"As is often the case when searching for a particular shipwreck, we found many places we had never seen before," said OME founder and expedition leader Greg Stemm.

Pirate ships

Historians say Berberi's corsair pirates were predominantly Muslims, arriving in the 15th century from Algeria, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire.

Much of the west coast of North Africa, from modern Morocco to Libya, was known at one time as the "Berberi Barbary Coast". The name came from the Berber people who lived there and their pirates were a major threat for over 200 years. They hunted ships and raided along the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts of Europe. Imprisoned men were held for ransom by the Berbers or sold for the North African slave trade, which operated in some Muslim countries until the early 20th century.

But the piratical activities of the Berberian corsairs ceased in the early 19th century, when the pirates were defeated in wars by the United States, Sweden, and the Norman kingdom of Sicily in southern Italy.

Shipwreck

According to researchers, the 14-meter-long ship was a tartan, meaning it was a small vessel with triangular latticed sails on two masts that could also be propelled by oars. Tartans were known to have been used by the Berberi pirates in the 17th and 18th centuries. In fact, they were often mistaken for fishing boats, not realizing that there were pirates on board.

Experts examined the corsair wreck using a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), finding that the ship was armed with four large cannons, 10 swivel guns and many muskets for a crew of about 20 pirates. Greg Stemm also added that the ship was equipped with a very rare "telescope," an early type of telescope, revolutionary at the time and probably captured from a European ship.

Other artifacts from the wreck support the suggestion that it was a pirate ship laden with stolen goods. "Throw into the wreck mix a collection of glass liquor bottles made in Belgium or Germany and tea bowls made in Turkey and the wreckage looks very suspicious. This was not a normal North African coastal merchant ship, it was a pirate ship," summarized expedition leader Greg Stemm.

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