Batavia: National Heritage Listing website

Client: WA Maritime Museum

As part of the Australian Government Gifts to the Nation, the Western Australian Museum recieved a grant to investigate land sites associated with the wreck of the Batavia.

The retourschip Batavia owned by the Verenidge Oostindische Compagnie (VOC) sailed for the East Indies from the Dutch Republic in 1629 when it was wrecked on the reef islands of what we now know as the Houtman Abrolhos Islands off the coast of Western Australia.

The discovery of the shipwreck site on the Morning Reef in the 1960s led to systematic archaeological research and the recovery of parts of the ship and its cargo.

The Batavia wreck site is located on Morning Reef in the Wallabi Group of the Houtman Abrolhos. Beacon Island was the base for the work on underwater excavations. In the four seasons of fieldwork, the stern section of the ship was completely excavated, leaving a small section of the bow area of the site unexcavated for future study...