Oldest shipwreck bell

The oldest shipwreck bell dates from 1498, recovered during a project managed by David L. Mearns of Blue Water Recoveries Ltd. (UK) and Oman's Ministry of Heritage and Culture (Oman), from the wreck site of a Portuguese nau off the north-eastern coast of Al Hallaniyah Island, Oman, on 24 May 2013.

The bell was first found on 19 May 2013 by Jessica Berry and recovered on 24 May 2013 by Dave Parham, Ayyoub Albusaidi and David L. Mearns.

The project was jointly conducted by Oman's Ministry of Heritage and Culture and Blue Water Recoveries Ltd for the archaeological excavation of a Portuguese armada ship that was part of Vasco da Gama’s 1502-1503 voyage to India. From their discovery, over 2,800 artefacts were recovered, include a ship's bell. When the bell was examined by WMG University of Warwick using CT scanning technology, it displayed the digits 498, providing additional verification the bell dates from at least 1498.

The findings were published in The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology on 14 March 2016. In the publication, it was revealed that the ship is believed to be the nau Esmeralda commanded by Vicente Sodré, who was the maternal uncle of Vasco da Gama and a descendent of the nobleman Frederick Sudley of Gloucestershire.