Outside the port of Nouadhibou there is sort of a cemetery for abandoned ships. Some of them have simply been left there by their Mauritanian owners, but some are said to have been stranded there since the Gulf War when many Iraqi ships allegedly were left there in order to escape the sanctions against Iraq.
When I was there, the last week in January 2007, people said that the Mauritanian government had contracted a German business to clean up the area. Remains to be seen if that is true.
It is both fascinating and sad that the ships are where they are today. Cleaned up the area could easily be turned into a wonderful beach for locals and tourists. Even today by the south end towards the suburb Cansado there are areas where you can take a bath in the ocean.
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