In May the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was asked to examine the remains of a ship. Marine archaeologist Barry Clifford believed that he had found the wreckage of the flagship of Christopher Columbus’ maiden voyage, the Santa Maria. The ship has been lost since it sank off the Haitian coast on December 24-25, 1492.

Director of Spain’s National Museum of Underwater Archaeology, Mr Nieto Prieto, was selected by the Scientific and Technical Advisory Body of UNESCO’s Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage to conduct the investigation.

His report leaves no doubt that the ship found by Clifford had nothing to do with Columbus and, in fact, came from a much later period in history.

The site, near the Coque Vieille Reef, revealed copper or bronze fasteners which were not used in Spanish shipbuilding until the late 17th or early 18th centuries. In 1492 the fasteners would have been made from iron or wood. Additionally, Prieto said that the wreck is too far from shore to be that of the Santa Maria based on accounts at the time, including those recorded in Christopher Columbus’ journal.

“There is now incontestable proof that the wreck is from a much later period,” said Prieto in the a statement. The report on the wreck recommends an inventory of known wrecks in the area be taken and that the search for the Santa Maria continue. It also urges the Haitian government to take stronger measures to protect underwater heritage sites.

After visiting Cuba in 1492, Columbus and his crew visited Hispaniola which is now Haiti and the Dominican Republic. After the loss of the Santa Maria Columbus built a fort and stationed troops there before returning to Spain to report to Queen Isabella. When Columbus returned, in 1493, the fort was gone and the soldiers left there were dead or missing.