Moroccan association unveils locations of nine WWI shipwrecks along southern coast

A maritime heritage association announced Monday that it had successfully identified the locations of nine sunken ships from World War I along the southern coastlines of Morocco’s regions.

The Peace Association for the Protection of Maritime Heritage revealed that the preliminary locations of nine historical ships, sunk during World War I, had been identified along Morocco’s southern coastline, extending from territorial waters to economic waters. 

These ships represent various nationalities, including Japanese, Norwegian, French, British, Portuguese, and Italian.

The association explained that these ships sank due to Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare during World War I, where German submarines targeted commercial and military vessels of Allied nations, resulting in the sinking of many ships off the coast.

To protect this heritage and deepen research, the association submitted a report, including the initial coordinates of the shipwrecks, to the National Committee for Hydrography, Oceanography, and Marine Cartography. 

This committee, established in 2014 by decree No. 2.14.330, ensures coordination among public services and all entities involved in hydrography, oceanography, and marine cartography.

The association emphasized that this research is part of its ongoing initiatives, which began with the discovery of the German ship “Kaiser Wilhelm Der Grosse” off the coast of Dakhla. 

The association has also implemented UNESCO’s first program dedicated to this heritage and organized international coastal forums, and collaborated with national and international institutions on submerged cultural heritage and launched the first training sessions in Morocco on this topic, in partnership with the National Institute of Archeology and Heritage, as part of the Dakhla International Workshops.

The association concluded by urging both central and regional authorities to support the agreement signed by African institutions in Dakhla on October 15, 2024, to establish Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab as an international center for coordinating African efforts to protect maritime heritage.