17th Century Spanish Galleon Found

In October 1631 a Spanish fleet of 19 ships set sail for their homeland from Veracruz, a port on the Gulf coast of what is now Mexico. Shortly after departing, the fleet encountered a violent storm, most likely a hurricane, which ultimately sank the majority of the fleet. While the exact cargo of the fleet is unknown, it is speculated to have been carrying gold and silver from the mines in Peru and Central America. One of the ships in the fleet was the Spanish galleon Our Lady of Juncal. Our Lady has recently been discovered by Odyssey Marine Exploration of Tampa, Florida. (Odyssey is the same company that discovered the HMS Victory in my previous post.) Odyssey wishes to explore the shipwreck and recover artifacts in compliance with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, anc Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Convention which would keep all artifacts together as a single collection. The Mexican government has denied Odyssey the right to explore and recover stating that Odyssey's proposal "is not intended to conduct research and does not have the approval of archaeologists or an academic institution of recognized prestige."

For the complete AP article by Mark Stevenson, please visit Mexico says US firm can't explore shipwreck.