The wreckage of the Belgian fishing vessel Z.592 Hosanna, which disappeared 46 years ago, has been identified by divers. The 25m steel ship went missing in February 1980 during a voyage from Plymouth, Devon, to the Netherlands.
Researchers confirmed the identity of a wreck located nine nautical miles off the coast of Dover, Kent, after two dives. British wreck researcher Mark Lewis, from Mutiny Diving, described the identification as "quite special" due to the time spent locating and confirming the wreck.
The Hosanna left Plymouth on 14 February 1980 with five crew members: skipper Germain Ackx, Piet Ackx, Hector Snauwaert, Pieter Guijt, and Pieter Albertus Guijt. A life raft from the ship was found on 16 February off the Kent coast, but no survivors or wreckage were located at the time.
According to Lewis, the European Court of Justice had recorded that the Hosanna was declared unseaworthy after running aground and suffering damage on 20 July 1979. The judgment stated that approved repairs were never carried out before its final voyage.
An international investigation was launched in 2026 to find and identify the wreckage. The group Mutiny Diving, operating from Dover, first investigated the unidentified fishing vessel wreck on 10 August, finding it at a depth of approximately 52 metres. A second dive on 24 September, observed by members of the Guijt family, provided enough evidence to confirm the wreck as the Hosanna.