Is a sunken shipwreck off Haiti the long-lost remains of the Santa Maria , Christopher Columbus ' flagship from his first voyage to the Americas ? Underwater explorer Barry Clifford , who led a team that found and investigated the wreck , says he 's confident it is . `` Every single piece fits . Now , of course , we have to go through the whole archeological process , and we plan to do that within the next few months , but I feel very confident that we 've discovered the site , '' he told CNN . `` This is the ship that changed the course of human history , '' Clifford said . If the claim is confirmed , it would go down as one of the most significant underwater archaeological discoveries ever . `` It is the Mount Everest of shipwrecks for me , '' said Clifford , 68 . But it is n't a new find for him . Clifford 's announcement involves a wreck he and his team investigated in 2003 . A cannon was found as part of the wreck . But , Clifford told CNN , archaeologists at the time `` misdiagnosed '' the cannon . Two years ago , after having researched the type of cannon used in Columbus ' time , `` I woke up in the middle of the night and said , 'Oh my God , ' `` Clifford told CNN . He realized the 2003 find might have been the one . A couple of weeks ago , he returned to the wreck with a group of experts . The team measured and photographed the ship . But some items , including the cannon , had been looted from the ship in the intervening years , Clifford said . The ship `` still has attributes that warrant an excavation to determine the site 's identity , '' archaeologist Charles Beeker of Indiana University said Tuesday . `` Barry may have finally discovered the 1492 Santa Maria . '' The evidence , Beeker said , is `` very compelling . '' The ship was found in the exact area where Columbus said the Santa Maria ran aground more than 500 years ago , Clifford said . The wreck is stuck on a reef off Haiti 's northern coast , 10 to 15 feet beneath the water 's surface . Clifford plans to go back to Haiti next month to meet with authorities and decide what steps to take next . Wrecked in 1492 . It was the flagship of Columbus ' small fleet that set sail from Spain in August 1492 under the sponsorship of King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I . The voyage aimed to find a westward route to China , India and the gold and spice islands of the East . But the land the sailors set eyes on in October 1492 was an island in the Caribbean . Among the islands on which Columbus set foot was Hispaniola , which is divided between Haiti and the Dominican Republic . Columbus established a fort in Haiti . That December , the Santa Maria accidentally ran aground off the island 's coast . Some planks and provisions from the wrecked ship , which was about 117 feet ( 36 meters ) long , were used by the garrison at the fort , according to Encyclopaedia Britannica . Columbus set off back to Spain with the two remaining ships , the Nina and the Pinta , in January 1493 . Archaeological study needed . Archaeologists will have to excavate and examine the ship found off Haiti in order to determine whether it is , in fact , the Santa Maria . Most of the ship is in shape and will be possible to excavate with the help of the Haitian government , said Clifford , who made a name for himself salvaging pirate ships off the coasts of Cape Cod and Madagascar . His team has used sophisticated metal detectors and sonar scans to study the remains . The ship is the right size , he said , and stones found at the site match the kind from the part of Spain where the ship was built . `` I do n't think any of us should take for granted what has been written , '' Clifford said . `` This is a tremendous touchstone to that period in time . We do n't know what secrets are going to be held on the ship . '' Did Phoenicians beat Columbus by 2,000 years ? After 125 years , ship rediscovered at bottom of San Francisco Bay . What caused this Civil War submarine to sink ? Piece of ironclad brought to surface . Shipwreck found on Gulf floor while thousands watched .
`` We do n't know what secrets are going to be held on the ship , '' says explorer . Barry Clifford says the wreck is in the right place and is the right size . He's not sure if it will ever see light again but Evidence is `` very compelling , '' says an archaeological expert .