A new publication identifies the mysterious wreck that, for almost 30 years, a team of divers and researchers from the British Museum, Bournemouth University (BU) and the South West Maritime Archaeology Group has worked to identify. The book, called "From Morocco to the Coast of England: The Story of the Dom van Keulen and its Remarkable Cargo," reveals that the Dutch ship encountered adverse weather.

Independent historian Ian Friel, who helped identify the ship, uncovered documents in the National Archives relating to its voyage from Morocco to the Netherlands, during which the crew "met with much tempestuous weather." The ship sprang a leak and sank close to the coastal town of Salcombe, Devon, off the south coast of England. All the crew members survived.

Dave Parham, professor of maritime archaeology at BU, edited the book alongside Venetia Porter, former senior curator for Islamic and contemporary Middle Eastern art at the British Museum, who worked with the South West Maritime Archaeology Group to find out more about the cargo and the ship after it was discovered in 1995.

Parham said, "Among its cargo were 150 bags of gum arabic, 64 bags of saltpeter, 320 goat skins and 9,000 Barbary ducats, gold Moroccan coins. It is thought that most of the cargo was salvaged at the time, but more than 400 coins remained on the seabed until they were discovered by the South West Maritime Archaeology Group in 1995."