Fisherman Finds 200yo Brit Shipwreck Off Mexican Coast

Story ByAna LacasaSub EditorJoseph GolderAgencyNewsflash

A fisherman has found the wreck of a 200-year-old ship that may have been British off the coast of southern Mexico.

The wreck, which sank over two centuries ago after hitting a reef, was found about 35 kilometres from the coastal village of Majahual in the south-eastern Mexican state of Quintana Roo.

Laura Carrillo Marquez, researcher of the Vice Directorate of Underwater Archaeology (SAS) of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), said: “The vessel was found directly on a reef where the sea current is strong.”

Newsflash/Laura Carrillo Marquez-INAH

The wreck was found in the waters of the Banco Chinchorro atoll reef and is believed to date back to the late 18th or early 19th Century.

The wreck has been named after Manuel Polanco, the fisherman who first spotted it and reported it to the INAH.

It is the 70th ship to have been found in the area, which has been made an underwater cultural site due to the number of wrecks there.

Newsflash/Laura Carrillo Marquez-INAH

Divers found a 2.5-metre (8 foot) long cannon and the ship’s anchor, however, most of the wood had rotted away.

Carrillo Marquez said some of the remains suggests it was a British vessel, although further tests need to take place before confirming its age, origin and dimensions.

She announced that there will be a second phase of works that will take place after the COVID-19 pandemic.

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