Small Reunion: Divers Recover Watches and Ring from the Wally Tilakkhanahat Wreck

Small Reunion: Divers Recover Watches and Ring from the Wally Tilakkhanahat Wreck

Mementos emerged from an old backpack — a fortunate find during an exercise in Palma Bay

On a day when the sea was calm and seagulls circled above Moll Vell, a Guardia Civil training group noticed something that did not belong to the exercise: an old wreck at a depth where light barely penetrates. What at first looked like another piece of debris turned out to be the remains of a 24-meter sailing yacht that had caught fire and sunk almost two and a half years earlier.

The unit GEAS, specialized in underwater operations, shifted its training to the discovery site and began a voluntary, planned search of the hull. In a waterproof backpack the divers found three wristwatches and a gold ring. The items were intact enough to be brought to the surface and later identified.

There was no large public event for the returned items — rather a quiet moment at the Guardia Civil office on Carrer de Manuel Azaña in Palma, where the former owner collected the belongings. The handover followed an internal check and comparison with investigations to determine ownership. Personal belongings resurfacing after a shipwreck is rare; this case felt like a small, human happy ending.

The yacht, a Wally from 2004 registered in Palma and flying the British flag, sank in September 2023 in Palma Bay after a fire caused by a short circuit onboard. Rescue teams had secured the three-person crew at the time. According to port authorities, the wreck lies at around 40 to 47 meters depth — a zone where operations are not possible without experience and where GEAS regularly trains; see Can Pastilla: The Roman Wreck and the Question of Responsibility and Funding.

Such exercises are important: they keep skills sharp that can save lives in real operations; see Body Recovered off East Coast: A Sign of Larger Problems at Sea?. At the same time they create opportunities to rediscover lost items. In this case the find meant more than material value to the person involved — mementos that, after a traumatic incident, once again found their way into the right hands.

At the port these stories are often exchanged during a stroll on the Paseo Marítimo, between the sounds of ship bells and the occasional engine noise of working boats. They are small everyday moments that show maritime safety here in Mallorca is not just theory: police and rescue units work, train and are ready — and sometimes their exercises return something that seemed lost.

For the island the report is more than a curious footnote. It is a reminder of how closely everyday life, leisure and work on the water are intertwined. The teams who train here daily not only secure tourism and rapid rescue operations; they also help ensure that personal fates are not left unresolved. Insights like this speak of professionalism, perseverance and a touch of human warmth.

The wreck itself remains on the seafloor, marked and documented; further reading includes Roman Wreck off Can Pastilla: Piecemeal Recovery Raises Questions for the Island. For people on land the small return remains a friendly moment: a backpack, a few pieces of jewelry and the certainty that on Mallorca even in the depths connections can be made.