The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) estimates that there are over 3 million shipwrecks throughout the world at sea.

A wrecked ship refers to a destruction or loss of a ship at sea. However there are unwanted and unprecedented events that actually make a ship to become wrecked at sea. Some of these events are: heavy storm; bad weather; collision with another ship; when the ship strikes a rock or iceberg; poor design of a ship; poor arrangement of cargo; navigation, to mention but a few.

However, here are the notable shipwrecks in Africa:

  1. A ship known as HMS Birken Head was sunk near Cape Town in South Africa.
  2. In 1995, tourists discovered a shipwreck at Black Assarca.
  3. A ship known as MV Mtongwe sunk on April 27, 1994, in Kenya.
  4. A Greek oil tanker ship known as Katina P was sunk in Mozambique on April 26, 1992, caused by heavy storm.
  5. On December, 1994, a fire accident caused a ship known as MS Achille Lauro to sink in Somalia territorial waters.
  6. On September, 2011, a ship known as MV Spice Islander I was sunk in Somalia.
  7. On May 21, 1996, in Mwanza area of Lake Victoria a ship known as MV Bukoba was sunk.
  8. In addition, Lake Victoria in 2005, a ship known as MV kabaleja was sunk when it collided with another ship known as MV Kaawa in Ssese Island area.
  9. On April 1st, 1999, a ship in Nigeria moving from Port-Harcourt to Nembe capsized.
  10. On September 2002, a Senegalese passenger’s ship capsized near Gambia water territorial areas.

In conclusion, a shipwreck is always a great disaster and great loss that every marine company must try to avoid when preparing a ship for a journey. This is because a shipwreck may occur due to a human error and at times, it does occur accidentally. Nonetheless, every marine sailor must not throw safety into the wind when travelling by sea.