The design includes the results of the new studies on the shapes of this famous vessel, in order to achieve greater maneuverability and better control of the steering.

The work was carried out in the coastal town of Pinta Umbría (Huelva, Spain) over twelve months starting in January 2017 and ending in March 2018. This true-scale replica of the Santa María was built by Fundcacíon Nao Victoria, a Spanish institute that specializes in historic ships. The Santa María 525 project came about with the objective of reliving history in order to promote the heritage, tourism and culture of the province of Huelva, with the construction and development of one of its most recognizable symbols of identity. On August 3rd, 1492, it set sail from the port of Palos de la Frontera (Huelva, Spain) together with the caravels “Pinta” and “Niña”, and reached America on October 12th, 1492, causing an encounter between two worlds that had been unknown to each other until that point. The Santa Maria was the flagship with which Admiral Christopher Columbus carried out one of the most significant ocean crossings in history. I’ve added some image captions for a few of our personal reactions. '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,' he said, adding that 'the wreck has the potential to play a major role in helping to further develop Haiti's tourism industry in the future.The notes in this post come from the exhibit itself, and from a news report. 'It would be very exciting but I remain skeptical because people make claims all the time.'Ĭlifford said that if the shipwreck was indeed confirmed to be Columbus' Santa Maria, it should remain in Haiti. 'If whoever finds the Santa Maria can confirm that it's the Santa Maria, that's kind of like the Holy Grail,' Crisman said. The Santa Maria sank slowly in 1492 and the crew had time to remove valuable items, such as a cannon, that might have helped confirm the identity of the wreckage centuries later. However, there are reasons to be skeptical that this is indeed the Santa Maria, said Kevin Crisman, director of the Center for Maritime Archaeology and Conservation at Texas A&M University.Ĭrisman told the Associated Press that many Spanish ships sunk off Haiti and the neighboring Dominican Republic during that era. Replicas of Columbus' ships, the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria, sail past the Statue of Liberty June 26, 1992, to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Columbus' landing in the Americas. It will be a wonderful opportunity to work with the Haitian authorities to preserve the evidence and artifacts of the ship that changed the world,' Clifford told The Independent. 'We've informed the Haitian government of our discovery - and we are looking forward to working with them and other Haitian colleagues to ensure that the site is fully protected and preserved. Over the last several years, Clifford and his team investigated over 400 possible locations, narrowing down a tiny area where the shipwreck, which could be the Santa Maria, was found. Clifford then used the explorer's diary to try to determine where the location of the shipwreck could be, according to the British newspaper. Clifford's discovery was made possible by the work of other archaeologists, which suggested the probable location of Columbus' fort.

Nina pinta and the santa maria