The “Josie J” Shipwreck Project

About the “JOSIE J”

The "Josie J" was a 120ft long steel hull, twin diesel engines private cargo ship owned by Mr. Albert Johnson from Roatan.

On the dawn of March 13th 2005, the “Josie J” was sailing from La Ceiba to Roatan, with a crew of 7 men, 6 sailors and the captain, carrying raw construction materials and a van, and at some point the bilge pumps had a malfunction, and the hull started to flood faster. At this point, the Captain, Mr. Arthur Johnson, Mr. Albert Johnson’s brother, decided to move faster in direction to West Bay beach to avoid sinking in deep water. Unfortunately it did not make it to the beach and after some attempts from a local boat to drain the water using a electro-mechanical water pump, it sank in front of “The Meridien”, with all its cargo and the van! No one was injured or died!

This shipwreck is located at West End Wall and lies on a sand bed at 65 meters / 215 feet deep.

The top of the wreck is at 50 meters / 165 feet. The Captain’s house, first mate quarters and engine room door are at 55 meters / 180 feet.

If you notice the moment of the sinking you can see some brownish rolls on top of the boat - this rolls are metal pipes for construction. Once at the bottom, it got strait and you can see these metal pipes on the underwater video.