The Santa Maria was the lost during the first voyage of Christopher Columbus to North America, but her remains were not found near Haiti, as was previously suggested.
The Santa Maria was the largest of three ships utilized by Columbus on his first journey across the Atlantic Ocean. The flagship of the famous mission was owned and captained by the Spanish cartographer, Juan de la Cosa. He later produced the first world maps known in Europe to show the New World.
Barry Clifford, a marine investigator, announced in May that a shipwreck found off the northern coast of Haiti was likely that of the historic expedition. The researcher previously discovered the first fully-confirmed shipwreck of a pirate vessel.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) released a report on October 6, stating that the wreckage found at the site was unlikely to be the remains of the Santa Maria. Fasteners found near the wreckage were manufactured from copper. That practice was not used in shipbuilding until the late 17th Century. In the 15th Century, nails and other fasteners were constructed from wood or iron.
"There is now incontestable proof that the wreck is from a much later period," Xavier Nieto Prieto, leader of a mission to explore the wreck, said. That expedition to Cap-Haitien took place between September 9 and 14.
The Santa Maria weighed over 100 tons, far larger than its companions, the Nina and Pinta. The ship, which Columbus called "La Capitana" (the Flagship) had just one deck and three masts. The vessel was roughly 117 feet long, while the other two were only about the size of modern cruising yachts.
Columbus and his crew explored the Caribbean Islands while journeying on all three ships. On the night of Christmas Eve, 1492, shortly before they were due to head back toward Spain, the Santa Maria ran aground on a coral reef, and fell beneath the waves. Columbus ordered much of his crew to scavenge lumber from the crippled wreck and build a fort. The sailor left the group behind to head back to Spain. When he returned to Hispanola, he foud the fort, La Navidad, destroyed.
In addition to the physical evidence, the UNESCO report on the wreck stated that contemporary reports from the wreck claim the ship went down much closer to shore than the location where Clifford's wreck was found.
After the announcement on May 14 that the Santa Maria may have been discovered, Monique Rocourt, the culture minister for Haiti, sent a team of experts to investigate the claim. Under the 2001 Scientific and Technical Body of the Underwater Cultural Heritage Convention, such a discovery would have been protected from pillagers and commercial exploitation.
The full report is available on the UNESCO Web site.
