A shipwreck off northern Haiti may be the remains of Christopher Columbus’ flagship vessel the Santa Maria, an explorer said on Tuesday, though experts expressed caution about a discovery that was far from confirmed.
Explorer Barry Clifford said evidence that the wreck is the Santa Maria, which struck ground and foundered on Christmas Day in 1492, includes ballast stones that appear to have come from Spain or Portugal and what looks like a 15th century cannon that was at the site during an initial inspection but has since disappeared.
Clifford, known for discovering a pirate ship off Cape Cod in 1984, said another factor is the location of the wreckage, in about 15 feet of water near where the crew of the Santa Maria is thought to have built a coastal settlement for crew members of the ship who were left behind after the sinking.
“The circumstantial evidence is overwhelming,” Clifford said in a phone interview from his home in Provincetown, Massachusetts. “The cannon is the smoking gun, so to speak.”
He said that he and his son, Brandon, first explored the site and took photos in 2003. They decided to publicise their findings after a follow-up dive and examination of the photos led them to conclude they may have found the Santa Maria. The cannon that they saw in 2003 had vanished by the time they returned last week.
Clifford, whose exploration of the site is being backed by the History Channel, says he has asked the Haitian government to preserve the area around the wreck. “The next step is a careful, thorough and timely excavation,” he said.