The graveyard of shipwrecks off the Paraíba coast

Navy records and a 1991 book catalog dozens of vessels that sank off the Paraíba coast.

The coast of Paraíba, including the waters near João Pessoa and Cabedelo, holds a veritable graveyard of ships wrecked over the centuries, recorded in Brazilian Navy documents and by specialized divers who have already located part of this wreckage. The book "Naufrágios no Litoral da Parahyba," by Jair Cesar Miranda Coelho, published in 1991 after 20 years of research, is the main reference on the subject and catalogs vessels that sank in the region, many of them still unfound or unrecovered.

One of the most documented cases is that of the U.S.-flagged ship Eire, which caught fire and sank on December 2, 1872, off Tambaú, while sailing from Rio de Janeiro to the United States loaded with coffee. Another famous episode, still shrouded in mystery, is the disappearance of the steamship Cabedelo in February 1942, a vessel built in Germany in 1912 and originally named Prússia.

For diving enthusiasts, these wrecks are technical diving attractions, generally organized by specialized operators who know the approximate location of the wreckage and the water visibility conditions at the most suitable time of year. The practice requires certification and professional supervision, since current and depth conditions vary considerably along the coast.

Although less publicized than the natural pools and catamaran trips, the theme of shipwrecks is part of Cabedelo's maritime history, a town that for centuries housed one of the Northeast's main ports and through which vessels of various nationalities have passed over the last five hundred years.