The remains of the ship that surfaced last weekend in Playa Grande, Punta Uva, Limon,  after being examined by experts are estimated to belong to a vessel built between the XVII and XVIII centuries. The remains will be returned to the bottom of the ocean because the country does not have the necessary conditions to maintain them in good condition out of the water.

“Because of its size, giving it maintenance outside of the water and waiting for it to dry up involve a slow process, of around one year. It requires special conditions, to preserver it out of the water, and we do not have the equipment for this”, explained Myrna Rojas, chief of the Anthropology and History Department of the National Museum.

The remains include part of the hull of a wooden ship which has large nails of close to 30 centimeters (11.8”), everything points to the fact that they belonged to a small and fast ship probably used in combat. Initially there was a theory that the remains could belong to the Daisy Gray, constructed in 1936 and that was abandoned by its crew in 1954 while traveling from Honduras to Cuba, but this has been completely discarded, the vessel is very antique.

The experts also explained that because the parts has been underwater for so many years they are considerably deteriorated, once out of the water, the salt crystals that are attached to the wood break and so does the structure, after being exposed to the air and weather for the past few days the effects are evident, the wood is already softening which makes it very fragil.
According to Rojas they need to relocate the pieces to an area where there is no swell and they must also make sure its at least 5 meters deep.

Costa Rica is in the process of approving an initiative to become part of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Heritage, which would allow Costa Rica to finally have an official inventory of the sites cataloged as an underwater heritage; it will also give the country access to international cooperation funds for the conservation of these sites while also promoting the training of Costa Rican archeologists in the field of underwater heritage and raising public awareness.