Could this be the biggest discovery since 1492?
A world-renowned explorer has claimed that he may have found Christopher Columbus' cargo ship, the Santa Maria, which was wrecked in a storm more than 500 years ago.
An expedition initiated by the History Channel has tracked down what it says is the remains of the ship, which met with a tragic end in the Caribbean in 1492. According to historical accounts, after the ship was wrecked, Columbus and his crew members were able to recover some of the ship's useable timber to build a fort nearby.
The whereabouts of the fort was also unknown until 2003, when its possible location was tracked down.
The vessel's long-lost remains may have now been spotted at the bottom of the sea off the north coast of Haiti, Barry Clifford, the leader of a recent reconnaissance expedition to the site said according to the Independent.
Clifford's mission to find the Santa Maria was the subject of a 2004 Discovery Channel documentary called "Quest for Columbus."
Clifford used the photographs taken of the wreck back in 2003 along with the data from computers and other recent dives, to confirm that it's the long-lost ship.
"I am confident that a full excavation of the wreck will yield the first-ever detailed marine archaeological evidence of Columbus' discovery of America," Clifford explained.
"All the geographical underwater topography and archaeological evidence strongly suggests that this wreck is Columbus' famous flagship."
The purported discovery was made after the data was used in corroboration with Columbus' diary to work out where the wreck should be, Clifford said.
The explorer also stated that he's been working with the Haitian government to preserve the wreck of the ship.
"Ideally, if excavations go well, and depending on the state of preservation of any buried timber, it may ultimately be possible to lift any surviving remains of the vessel, fully conserve them and then put them on permanent public exhibition in a museum in Haiti," Clifford added.
