Mara Hope

The Mara Hope began life as Juan de Austria, an oil tanker built in 1967 by the Astilleros de Cádiz shipyard in Spain, and was renamed Asian Glory in 1979 and Mara Hope in 1983. In November 1983, while anchored for refitting in Port Neches, Texas (USA), she suffered a fire in the engine room. One hundred and fifty residents were evacuated because of the risk of explosion, the 40 crew members escaped unharmed, and the ship burned for four days.

After running aground, the ship was declared a total loss: the owning company dismantled what it could and local looters finished the job, leaving only the hull. In May 1987, another fire struck the stranded ship, and in 1989 a company that bought her began cutting her up with blowtorches to sell the metal to steel mills, later abandoning the hull. Today the ship is property of the Brazilian federal government, and routine naval inspections by the Ceará Port Authority (Capitania dos Portos do Ceará) pass by the site.

The remains lie about 700 m from the Ponte Metálica, and the hull appears on the Brazilian Navy's Nautical Chart 710. In March 2024, the stern gave way and turned into a kind of ramp; eaten away by rust, the ship is almost entirely submerged, and boat visits and climbing onto the hull are no longer recommended. On a dive in October 2010, marine life was sparse: a few batatas, ciliares and lancetas, plus a lobster tucked away in its hole. In Ceará, the diving season usually runs from March to July.