"I think this is an emergency situation. I think the ship needs to be excavated as quickly as possible, conserved and displayed to the world," underwater explorer Barry Clifford yesterday told The Explorers Club, referring to the fabled Santa Maria.
The flagship from the explorer's first voyage to the Americas was found in the area where Columbus said the Santa Maria ran aground more than 500 years ago, Clifford said Tuesday.
The researcher said the expedition he led to find the wreck unearthed sufficient proof to establish its authenticity -- 11 years after he first investigated it.
"There is nobody watching the ship right now," he fretted, adding that "somebody knows where we are."
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"I'm ready to leave next week if I get the green light," he added, noting that discussions were under way with Haitian authorities.
He said he hoped that would cooperate on protecting the site, and voiced hope that Spain -- which funded Columbus' voyage -- would cooperate as well.
Clifford also said that he hopes Haiti -- the poorest country in the Americas -- can use the wreck's recovery as a way to help it financially. He suggested worldwide proceeds from shows of the items when recovered, go to Haitian assistance.
Four years on, hundreds of thousands are still living in makeshift camps.
Columbus set sail August 3, 1492 from Palos de la Frontera in southern Spain, with the Santa Maria, La Nina and La Pinta, searching for a shortcut to Asia.
On October 12 of that year, he is believed to have landed in Guanahani, which historians have identified as an island in the Bahamas, in what is popularly called the "Discovery of the Americas."