The following is from the May 14, 2014 edition of the Washington Post.
A shipwreck off northern Haiti may be the remains of Christopher Columbus’s flagship vessel, the Santa Maria, an explorer said Tuesday, though experts expressed caution about a discovery that was far from confirmed.
Explorer Barry Clifford said he has evidence that the wreck is the Santa Maria, which struck ground and slowly sank on Christmas Day in 1492. That evidence 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.
The following is from the May 15, 2014 edition of Fox News:
An explorer who believes he’s found the wreckage of Christopher Columbus’ flagship, the Santa Maria, off the coast of Haiti said Wednesday that the vessel has been looted and needs to be excavated immediately.
“I think this is an emergency situation,” explorer Barry Clifford said. “I think the ship needs to be excavated as quick as possible and then conserved and then displayed to the world.”
Clifford was at the Explorers Club in New York to show photos and video of what he said was a pile of ballast stones from the wreckage.
“I think the evidence is overwhelming that this ship is most probably the Santa Maria,” he said.
The Santa Maria ran aground on Christmas Day 1492.
