Tampa firm discovers Spanish shipwreck

TAMPA -- Divers from Anchor Research and Salvage, a company of Tampa-based Global Marine Exploration Inc., has discovered a 450-year-old ship that wrecked off the Dominican coast. The company is working with the Punta Cana Foundation to excavate the wreck site under contract with the Underwater Cultural Heritage division of the Dominican Minister of Culture.

Among the cargo discovered so far, Anchor Research and Salvage says it has found what it believes is the single largest cache of 16th century pewter tableware ever discovered. The ship was also carrying Spanish silver coins from the late 1400s through the mid-1500s and several gold artifacts.

The 16th century pewter is considered historically important, for many of the stamped marks have never been seen before. The pewter collection is being valued in the millions of dollars. The collection includes plates, platters, porringers, salts and flagons in an array of sizes and styles.

Anchor Research and Salvage has recently completed surveying operations on its southwestern coastal lease area off the Dominican Republic, revealing a number of previously undiscovered shipwrecks. Shipwreck archaeologist and author Sir Robert F. Marx estimates that there is several billion dollars of submerged treasures in the southern coastal area alone, and 10 times that amount waiting in Global Marine Exploration's future target areas.

“Sample artifacts from these newly discovered wreck sites indicate that we may have found an entire fleet of early Galleons that wrecked on their way back to Spain carrying the riches of the new world,” Robert Pritchett, Global Marine Exploration's CEO, says in a press release.

Pritchett says that negotiations are underway for Global Marine Exploration and its companies to provide artifact rescue and excavation services in other countries as well.