The Porticello Shipwreck
A Mediterranean Merchant Vessel
by C. J. Eiseman and B. S. Ridgway
Early in 1969 a Calabrese fisherman was working along the coast. In the bay near Porticello he observed that his catch consisted of many rockfish. He asked a local sport diver to investigate the area to determine if there was a reef. There was none, but the diver discovered instead a number of large boulders and the remains of a shipwreck settled among them.
This wreck has sometimes been referred to as the “Messina Wreck” or the “Messina Straits Wreck” because of its location, or the “Philosopher Wreck” because of the supposed identity of the bronze sculpture on it. It seems preferable to call it the Porticello Wreck, for more wrecks are now known in the Straits of Messina, and ambiguity can best be avoided by referring to wrecks by the name of the nearest town, village, or other landmark rather than by the name of the body of water in which they are located. Furthermore, the identity of the sculpture is not certain.
0-89096-244-8.
Price: $75.00
INA Members Price: $52.50
