FT234

The wreck of the Quedah Merch­ant, a treasure ship captured by the Scottish pirate Captain William Kidd, has been found in the Caribbean. It lies in just 10ft (3m) of water off the tiny island of Catalina in the Dominican Republic. Its scattered cannons and anchors, barnacle-covered and partially hidden by swirling sands, were spotted by a local man. The wreck was scuttled in 1699. “I couldn’t believe everybody had missed it for 300 years,” said Charles Beeker, an Indiana University marine archæologist called in by the Dominican government. “I’ve dived on thousands of wrecks and this is one of the first that has not been looted.” Historians believe the ship was stripped of treasure and burned shortly after Kidd abandoned it.