By Claude Mills, Staff ReporterUNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGISTS from the Admiralty Corporation discovered cannons and a ballast pile from two historic shipwrecks during their preliminary archaeological surveys in the Pedro Banks area in May.
"We detected two sunken ships and picked up two other anomalies which could be other ships during our first few days of the work. We are still going through the data," said Clarence Lott, vice-president in charge of marine permitting at Admiralty Corporation.
A ballast pile is a true indicator of the presence of a historic ship.
A total of 26 magnetic anomalies were recorded by sailors aboard the New World Legacy. Ongoing archival research on the 1691 fleet, in Spain, by an expert Spanish archivist, Victoria Stapells Johnson, and the results of past archaeological investigations in the company's possession, confirm that this is a major find.
"C Shoal holds the remains of two or three vessels from the 1691 Spanish Terra Firma fleet, bound for Havana from Cartagena, Colombia. The 1691 fleet found itself on the reefs after missing a course change. Four vessels from the fleet wrecked that night on the Pedro Bank," Mr. Lott said.
The company will do more preliminary surveys and archival work, and salvage operations may begin at the end of this year's hurricane season, Mr. Lott said.
TREACHEROUS PASSAGE
The Pedro Banks was a busy but treacherous shipping passage for European vessels headed to the New World between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was once called 'The Viper' by Spanish mariners who feared the dangerous reefs, rocks and shoals laid out in the shape of a gigantic serpent. Archaeologists estimate some 300 ships may have fallen victim to the passage.
"This is just the start of things, and we would like to applaud the work done by the deck crew from the Jamaica Maritime Institute and the help of the coast guard in our efforts," Mr. Lott said.
However, choppy seas may lie ahead in the search as Ainsley Henriques, who resigned as director of the Jamaica National Heritage Trust the State agency overseeing the project to protest against the Government's decision, scoffed at the discovery.
"This is not new. They are not finding anything that is not known, the JNHT knows where the ships are. The question is who gave them the permission to do this?" he asked.
"The more people know about what is there, the less likelihood there is of securing the area and preventing piracy. I don't know if people understand what archaeology is about, but if we want to dig up gold in our backyard, you can go dig up May Pen Cemetery and find gold in someone's teeth. I am not sure what these American pirates are here doing."
Mr. Henriques remains opposed to any salvage operations in the area.
"Do you know how many times we've been robbed? It is time we got our act together as a country," he said.
Jamaica formally banned offshore treasure hunting in 1991, fearful of being pilfered by modern-day pirates and harming delicate marine habitats.
In the meantime, Alwin Bully, senior programmes specialist for culture at the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), declined comment because UNESCO had not been officially informed by the Government of the surveys and salvage operations.
PRESERVATION
"We are concerned, however, about the preservation of underwater heritage. Jamaica had expressed an interest in signing the 2001 convention, and we expect that it will happen some time in the future. But we think that it is best that these sites should remain as is and be preserved," Mr. Bully said.
The 2001 convention advocates to preserve, by whatever means possible, the underwater heritage of member states by not allowing the commercial salvaging of historic shipwrecks.
Susanne Lyons, executive director of Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT), gave assurances that the State was closely monitoring the salvage activities.
"We have observers on board from the Fisheries Department, NEPA, Coast Guard, and the JNHT. The archaeological surveys that are being done are in keeping with international standards and the licence of the agreement, and the intention is that they will not recover everything," she said.
"They were able to do two weeks of surveys recently, and we have got valuable preliminary data from magnatometer surveys where we have been able to identify at least three ships, and we have identified some metals as well, so we have been getting some good data which the company has shared with us."
In addition to half the precious bounty, Jamaica will also receive all non-precious artefacts, including ship fittings, china, and nautical equipment that it intends to display in a maritime museum.
