Naufrágio Seawind

The Seawind left Vitória on 28 May 2011 bound for Italy, but a failure in the engine cooling system made the crew turn back and head for Fortaleza, the nearest city. The voyage was marked by late wages and lack of food: part of the crew returned to Bulgaria, and six sailors stayed on board for three months, fishing to eat, until the Labour Court seized the ship. Loaded with 4,000 tonnes of granite and with 70 tonnes of bunker oil in its tanks, the ship had already been anchored for a year at the Mucuripe anchorage over labour issues when, on 27 June 2012, water began to enter the engine room through the sea valve.

It sank at 10:15 pm on 28 June 2012, after the flooding rate suddenly increased during the night, and the superstructure and bow remained above water. No one died or was injured in the sinking. The hired divers could not find the leak, and it was a local spearfisherman who found it and plugged it with a huge wooden bung.

Less than six months after the sinking, Companhia Docas do Ceará scheduled an auction of the ship's scrap and of the 152 granite blocks still in the hold, with a starting bid of R$ 4.512 million. A few months after the sinking, the wheelhouse, which stood above the surface, collapsed to port and disappeared from view.