CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- A South African marine archeologist may be close to finding a Dutch slave ship that ran aground in Struis Bay in 1766 following a mutiny.
Jaco Boshoff with the government-run Iziko Museums in Cape Town will find out if he is right when he starts digging on the deserted beach on Africa's southernmost point later this year, the New York Times reported. Iziko Museums is dedicated to celebrating the region diverse heritage.
Boshoff's three-year search has led him to the mouth of the Heuningries River, where the 450-ton slave ship, the Meermin, broke apart in 1766, the Times said.
If he is right, the discovery will shed more light on how 147 Malagasy slaves seized their captors' vessel, only to be recaptured, the report said.
Though European nations shipped millions of slaves from Africa over four centuries, archeologists estimate fewer than 10 slave shipwrecks have been found worldwide.
Other slave-ship discoveries have produced evidence of both the brutality and the lucrative nature of the slave trade, the Times said.
