Five coconuts were recovered during excavation in 2017-18 at the wreck site of the Rooswijk, an eighteenth-century ship of the Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, ‘VOC’), wrecked on the Goodwin Sands off the coast of Kent, South East England, in January AD 1740.
The highly mobile sea-bed environment has resulted in scattered ship debris across the area of the site. Dating of the coconuts was required to establish if they were part of the cargo of the Rooswijk. The report authors suggest that a date of 1899, corresponding with a cargo spillage from the Norwegian barque, Ala and an origin for the coconuts in the Carribbean is more likely. (1)

<1> Historic England, 2022, Coconut Shells Recovered from the Goodwin Sands in the Vicinity of the Wreck of the Rooswijk, Radiocarbon Dating (Unpublished document). SKE55262.