In 1711, Dutch East India Company trading ship, the Zuytdorp (meaning ‘South Village’), set out from the Netherlands for Batavia on what was to be its third and final voyage. Onboard were more than 200 men and precious cargo comprising 250,000 silver coins.

After nearly seven months at sea with scurvy claiming the lives of many men, the Zuytdorp continued its journey from the Cape of Good Hope via the Indian Ocean. Zuytdorp never arrived at Batavia and with no knowledge of where it may have sunk or whether it had been taken by pirates, no search was ever made. The wreck was found more than 200 years later off the coast of Western Australia along a stretch now known as the Zuytdorp Cliffs. Divers of the wreck have reported a ‘Carpet of Silver’ – the result of thousands of silver coins strewn along the ocean floor. These coins inscribed with ‘Zeeland’ and ‘1711’ helped identify the wreck as the ill-fated Zuytdorp, which still abounds in mystery today.