It sounds like a movie, but it’s true. A “ghost” ship more than 100 years old has resurfaced off the coast of São Paulo, arousing the curiosity of bathers. The ship, which sank in São Paulo waters in 1895, spent decades underwater and surfaces on the sand from time to time at low tide.
Today, the shipwreck has become a sort of open-air museum in the middle of Embaré Beach in Santos. If you’re thinking of taking a trip to the coast, why not take a closer look at this century-old vessel?
Wreckage of the “ghost ship” was discovered in 2017
For more than 100 years, the shipwreck went unnoticed by locals. It was only in 2017 that, during a low tide, cleaning staff noticed iron and wood debris appearing in the sand, and experts went to the site to investigate.
After analysis, it was found that the ruins were part of the hull of a boat that had run aground on the Santos waterfront. At the time, Brazil’s most experienced pilot, Fabio Mello Fontes, told G1 that iron and wood had not been used in boats since 130, so the shipwreck must have been a hundred years old.
In fact, archaeologists and historians later discovered that it was the English sailing ship Kestrel, which had run aground in Santos in 1895. After suffering extensive damage in a storm, it ran aground and could not be removed from the sand, so the company responsible for it decided to dismantle it.
Ruins of the ship are an attraction on the Santista waterfront
Part of the Kestrel’s hull remained hidden in the sand for years. After its discovery in 2017, the Public Prosecutor’s Office requested that the wreck be removed from Embaré Beach.
The aim was for the National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute (IPHAN) to be able to study them, but moving them would cause serious damage to the material. So the public agency agreed to keep it on the sand.
After the site was signposted for the safety of bathers, Santos’ “ghost ship” became a tourist attraction in Santos.
A commemorative plaque explains the history of the Kestrel in Portuguese and English, and visitors can also scan a QR code to see the ship via augmented reality. Santos’ “ghost ship” is on Embaré Beach, near Canal 5. Be sure to visit it on your next trip to the coast!
