The Ricardo Wreck
Eight miles offshore, the Ricardo — her true name the SS Edda — is one of Djerba's most impressive wrecks. Her nickname? It comes from the fine china of the prestigious Italian manufacturer Richard Ginori found on board — a Florentine porcelain maker founded in 1735, whose pieces can still be glimpsed on the seabed today. This 123-metre refrigerated cargo vessel departed Tripoli on 18 January 1943, carrying 1,500 tonnes of war supplies bound for Trapani. The following day, off the coast of Djerba, the British submarine HMS Unbroken fired two torpedoes at her. She avoided the first... but not the second. Struck on her flank, the Edda sank to a depth of between 19 and 27 metres.
Today, nature has fully reclaimed the wreck. Groupers, nudibranchs and schools of fish inhabit her hull, while objects from the ship still litter the seabed around her, waiting to be discovered. An extraordinary dive, where history and wonder go hand in hand.
