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Google Sightseeing takes you on tour of the world as seen from satellite, using the free Google Earth program, or Google Maps in your web browser. Each weekday your guides James and Alex present new weird and wonderful sights as suggested by readers.

The editors: James & Alex

Saharan Shipwrecks

Friday, 11th August 2006 by Alex

Er, Saharan Shipwrecks? Yup, shipwrecks in the desert! Okaaaay, so it’s the beach, but it is the Sahara :-)

Just down the coast there’s another wreck, and as I zoomed out from there I found a third!

Flickr has a picture of a shipwreck on the coast of Western Sahara, but I don’t think it’s any of these three! Can anyone find it?

Update: Reader Brandon found an astonishing 6 more shipwrecks on this strip of coastline! The last two are actually just across the border in Morocco but we’re totally letting that slip :D

Thanks to Patrick!

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Locations: Morocco, Western Sahara / Categories: ,

8 Responses to 'Saharan Shipwrecks'

  1. 1. Patrick says: August 11th, 2006 at 2:14 pm

    he-hee :-) So I guess you guys do read all the comments? Thanks for these. 2 posts in one day!! It has always been a dream of mine to fly a route tracing the entire coastline of Africa……Since it’s hard to take so much time off from work and all, google earth is the next best thing. I am currently scouring the entire coast of Africa. SUch an incredibly beautiful place.

  2. 2. Joshua says: August 11th, 2006 at 3:41 pm

    The Flickr picture has some geotags which gives us:
    Google Maps Link

    The only thing nearby is this funny looking place… maybe stacks of boxes left over from a ship salvage? Or possibly the wreck hasn’t happened when the Google picture was snapped?
    Google Maps Link

  3. 3. SpedAngel says: August 11th, 2006 at 7:54 pm

    The photo from Flickr looks surprisingly similar to the docked ship in The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, but unfortunately the backdrop of the Saharan desert (vs. the tropics of the Caribbean) is not correct.

  4. 4. brandon says: August 11th, 2006 at 7:58 pm

    maybe… wrong country but maybe they were talking about the western area of the sahara

    ship1 Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth

    ship 2 Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth

    ship3 Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth

    ship4 Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth

    ship5 Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth

    ship 6? Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth

  5. 5. add says: August 14th, 2006 at 5:14 pm

    There are a lot more on the African West coast, look here :
    http://virtualglobetrotting.com/category/transportation/sea_shipwrecks/

  6. 6. wickershaw says: August 14th, 2006 at 6:12 pm

    Patrick,
    When I lived in Australia, one of my neighbors (an Air Force pilot) flew around the continent once a month. It was a defense/coast guard exercise. He had two weeks flying and then two weeks off. He said it was the best job in the world.

  7. 7. ahmed asllam says: August 21st, 2006 at 12:52 am

    thank’s patrick
    really great puctures you took , even it is a sahara but it has beach which gives it the beauty.

  8. 8. Urban says: January 25th, 2007 at 11:59 pm

    Ive got this nice photo of one of the saharan shipwrecks… and alot more…
    http://blogg.hamnplan.com/images/lost.jpg

    Google Map view of the wreck in the photograph:
    Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth

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