Sea flower

The port is bustling with activity as one of the empire's latest achievements is unveiled, a massive new ship, considered at that time the best naval vessel ever built in the history of maritime navigation.

The Portuguese built this ship, "The Sea Flower," to be an ocean-crossing vessel for traveling to India, and from the first nail driven into its planks, it was destined to occupy and plunder the land of gold and spices that had always captivated the minds of the West with its wealth.

- Although the ship was technically beautiful, it still included some flaws that would be discovered later.

- Those flaws did not prevent the ship from enduring and surpassing the average lifespan of ships designated for travel to India at that time, as it sailed for about 9 consecutive years before resting in its final resting place and settling in the depths of the sea. When that day came, what many consider the greatest treasure ever carried by a sunken ship sank with it.

- Shortly after the discovery of the "Flower of the Seas," specifically in the year 1502, the ship embarked on its maiden voyage under the command of Captain "Estêvão da Gama," the cousin of the famous Portuguese navigator and explorer "Vasco da Gama."

The ship's crew set sail towards India, where they gathered all the plunder they could carry on board before turning the masts towards their homeland.

- During the return journey, the ship faced its first difficulties, as it turned out that a ship of this size was not adequately suited for sailing in the waters it had navigated. At the height of the maritime disturbances, water began to seep into the ship before the crew was eventually able to patch it up.

The ship arrived safely at the homeland port after several months past the originally scheduled return date, but the problem was not resolved definitively. However, this did not prevent "the sea flower" from continuing her professional journey, which many admired.

- Under the command of a new captain, the ship set sail after a few years on its second commercial voyage to India, but it encountered the same problems on its return journey, forcing the crew to unload its cargo halfway, and it was eventually directed to become part of a patrol fleet in the East Indies.

Looting the treasures of "Malacca":

- Over the next four years, "Zahra Al-Bihar" transformed into a warship that helped control the culturally and economically rich cities in the region, including Socotra Island, Muscat, Hormuz, and Goa.

- All that time, the ship was part of the fleet led by "Alfonso de Albuquerque," a noble admiral, who later became the second viceroy of the King of Portugal in India.

In the year 1511, "Albuquerque" set his sights on the city of Malacca, located on the Malay Peninsula, as Malacca at that time was situated at the crossroads of regional trade routes, which helped it become a wealthy global center filled with riches and treasures. This also made it a prize that "Albuquerque" could not resist seizing.

- After a 12-day siege, marked by the familiar activities of empire-building involving violence and killing, the captain's campaign succeeded in taking control of the city, and this success was not only at the political level.

- In addition to taking control of the city to become the latest jewel in the crown of the Portuguese Empire, "Albuquerque" plundered the city's wealth, especially the Sultan's palace, which contained its greatest treasures.

- Despite the troubling history of the "Sea Flower" as a merchant ship, as well as its age at that time, "Albuquerque" decided that the ship was the ideal means of transport for the looted treasure.

- At that time, "Albuquerque" wanted to return victorious to Portugal, bringing with him immense wealth, as well as returning what was once considered the greatest Portuguese ship to the homeland, after more than 6 years since its departure.

2.6 billion dollars lying at the bottom of the sea:

In their book "The Lost Treasure of the Sea: Diving into the Wreck of the Greatest Sunken Ships," treasure hunter Robert Marx and his wife Jennifer Marx wrote: "The spoils reaped by the Portuguese in Malacca surpass the limits of imagination, as they obtained from the Sultan's palace alone more than 60 tons of gold in the form of animal and bird statues, gilded furniture, and coins."

The authors added that this massive loot took up a large space on board the ship, and its crew faced difficulty in stacking 200 more boxes filled with gemstones.

The value of the diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and sapphires (blue sapphires) inside these boxes reached nearly 30 million kronor, which is equivalent to billions of dollars at present.

By December 1511, the spoils had been loaded onto the "Flower of the Seas," and Albuquerque was ready to embark on her during the return journey to the homeland.

- Two days after setting sail, the ship encountered a fierce storm, but it managed to survive the deluge after hours before crashing into the coral reefs off the coast of Sumatra Island.

The Portuguese pharmacist "Tome Pires," who lived in Malacca between 1512 and 1515, wrote in his memoirs: "When the Portuguese ships were sailing along the northeastern coast of Bassey Island, they encountered a severe storm, causing an old ship named 'Flower of the Seas' to crash after entering shallow waters, resulting in significant loss of life and the loss of all the treasures brought from Malacca. The ship's captain, 'Albuquerque,' barely managed to escape death."

- According to several estimates, the ship broke into two halves after colliding with the coral reefs, while the strong waves caused the remaining parts to shatter into small pieces.

- Nearly 400 people on board the ship lost their lives in that incident, except for "Albuquerque," who managed to escape with a number of his officers on what could be called a 16th-century version of lifeboats. They paddled away from the wreckage, carrying nothing but the clothes they were wearing, leaving behind the treasure estimated today to be worth around $2.6 billion.

Attempts to find the lost treasure:

- Despite the numerous attempts made by many, no one has succeeded so far in finding the wreck site or the loot that was on board the sunken ship.

Among the serious attempts to find the lost treasure is the effort by the Singaporean company "Southeast Asia Salvage," after obtaining approval from the Indonesian authorities in 1989 to search for the sunken ship.

- Joining the expedition was "Robert Marx," who claimed in his book that they managed to discover the coral reef area that they believe was responsible for the shipwreck.

- But before the team could begin excavating and digging at what they believed to be the main wreck site, a dispute arose between Malaysia, Portugal, and Indonesia over each country's right to any treasures that might be discovered, leading to the project's cancellation. To this day, the site of the "Zahra Al-Bahr" ship and its contents remain a mysterious enigma.

- To this day, the ship that was once the pride of the Portuguese fleet still lies at the bottom of the sea somewhere near the Strait of Malacca, waiting for an adventurous diver to discover its treasures.

- In contrast, one of the common opinions suggests that while many believe the lost wreck of the "Sea Flower" contains the greatest treasure buried deep in the sea, some have doubted for years that these riches may not be as vast as some think.

- Proponents of this view say that some of the ship's passengers managed to survive the sinking after "Albuquerque" abandoned them, and that the locals, after the deadly storm subsided and with the help of these survivors, succeeded in finding some of the treasures of the "Flower of the Seas" before the rest settled on the seabed and were lost forever.