The voyage of the La Serenissima Concessione e San Francesco di Paola

A shipment of grain loaded in Agrigento around 19 May 1719 and destined for an unspecified Spanish port. After a routine north-west passage, the ship was overtaken on 30 May by a violent two-day storm, with fresh north and north-west winds that whipped up a heavy sea and drove the vessel off-course towards the eastern Tyrrhenian Sea. The continuous shocks from the stormy seas breached the hull, and by the morning of 31 May the water hauled up by the bilge pumps was swirling with loose grains of wheat indicating soaking of the cargo. The crew manned the pumps continuously, day and night, struggling to bail of the continuous ingress of water. The storm eventually moderated, but persistent contrary winds blocked any westward course toward Spain, and dwindling stocks of fresh water and wine forced the captain to seek shelter. On 9 June he brought the ship into Porto Venere. The following morning the captain formally declared damages, requesting an official survey to document the leaking hull, the continuous pumping since 31 May, and the substantial loss and wetting of the grain.