Ferry Juracy Magalhães Jr.

The Juracy Magalhães Jr. is a steel ferry 71 m long with a 13.5 m beam, ordered in 1970 from the EBIN Só shipyard in Porto Alegre by the Companhia Bahiana de Navegação. Launched in February 1970 and officially delivered in May 1972, she made her maiden voyage on 5 December 1972. She had five decks, stood more than 19 m tall and could carry 14 trucks, 18 cars and 305 passengers, and she served for almost 46 years on the Salvador–Ilha de Itaparica crossing, carrying vehicles and passengers. She made regular crossings until the end of 2017, when she reached the service life allowed by law, and, out of operation since 2018, she was laid up at the company's pier in Itaparica until she was prepared for sinking.

On 21 March 2025, she was towed from the Companhia Bahiana de Navegação pier to a spot 2 miles (4 km) off the coast of Rio Vermelho, outside the Baía de Todos os Santos, and deliberately sunk to become an artificial reef. The project was led by the Bahia State Tourism Department (Setur-BA), in partnership with Inema and the Brazilian Navy, with the aim of attracting marine life and encouraging dive tourism. The sinking was done outside the bay because there are already many uncontrolled sinkings there, and, in agreement with the Navy, the team chose a site with no artificial reefs and a sandy bottom, to avoid environmental impact. Beforehand, the hull was cleaned of pollutants and went through four inspections attended by the Navy and a naval engineer to make sure no oil, wood or glass remained, and invasive species were removed from the vessel. For diving, openings were cut that give almost the entire ship direct access to light.

The wreck settled with her stern facing the coast and her bow pointing out to sea, listing slightly (5°) to port. During the sinking, the stern struck the bottom and partly broke the starboard ramp, but the rest of the ship remained intact. Twenty-four hours after the sinking, fish had already settled on the hull.