UNESCO has announced they will send experts to examine a shipwreck off the coast of Haiti than may the Santa Maria, the flagship of Christopher Columbus' first journey to America.
The Haitian Culture Minister Monique Rocourt wrote a letter asking the Scientific and Technical Advisory Body of UNESCO's 2001 Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage to assist at the site, a UNESCO news release reported.
The mission will be underway in the coming months; experts will examine the old shipwereck off the northern town of Cap-Haïtien.
"[I'm concerned about the risk of] "of looting of underwater heritage sites off the shores of Haiti. We stand by the authorities in fighting illicit trafficking in underwater cultural heritage objects and urge States to join Haiti's efforts to find [artifacts] stolen from these underwater archaeological sites, notably the one that will visited by UNESCO's mission," Irina Bokova, the Director-General of UNESCO, said in the news release.
On May 14 of this year an American underwater explorer named Bill Clifford claimed to have identified the wreck of the Santa Maria, which is believed to have sank on the 25 of December, 1492. The wreck has already been visited by past explorers, who identified a 15th century cannon. The cannon has disappeared since that 2003 visit.
UNESCO's Underwater Heritage Convention, works to ensure underwater heritage sites are safeguarded. Forty-right states have ratified it, including Haiti; these states agree to "undertake to preserve this heritage, prevent commercial exploitation of sites and fight the illicit trafficking in stolen [artifacts]," the news release reported.
The Scientific and Technical Advisory Body of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage is made up of 12 "internationally recognized" experts who are elected during the States Parties to the 2001 Convention.
