The world’s oldest ship’s bell has been discovered by a British team of scientists following recovery from the 516-year-old wreck of a Portuguese vessel found off Oman.

Guinness World Records have verified the artifact, along with a rare type of early navigation device, as the oldest of its type after marine archaeologists and historians identified the stricken ship as one involved in the pioneering days of East Indies exploration.

Commanded by the uncle of the famous explorer Vasco da Gama, the heavily armed Esmeralda was supposed to protect Portuguese trading posts during the nation’s fourth Armada to India, which set off from Lisbon in 1502.

Instead, captain Vicente Sodre sailed his vessel to the Gulf of Aden in order to loot and burn Arab shipping.

His ship, along with one other in the squadron, was sunk when a sudden storm tore them from their moorings and dashed them against the rocks in 1503.

The wreck was surveyed by a UK-based team in 2013 and the fractured bell subsequently found nearby under a boulder.

Tests revealed the bell bore an inscription including the date of 1498.

It was found alongside a rare example of an astrolabe, an early navigation device, which has also been certified as the oldest of its type in the world, dated 1496.