Second ship may be from Columbus's fleet

Panamanian authorities have announced the discovery of a second ship believed to possibly belong to the fleet Christopher Columbus used on his last voyage to America in the 16th century.

US and Spanish experts planned to visit the site to investigate the discovery, which took place earlier this week off the Atlantic coast of Panama’s Veraguas province, about 155 miles east of the capital, Panama City.

The discovery comes on the heels of a similar find late last month near the port of Nombre de Dios, 75 miles east of the capital.

The National Culture Institute said it believed that the first vessel was the Columbus ship the Vizcaina, one of the larger boats Columbus used on his fourth and final voyage to America, or that it belonged to one of the earliest Spanish conquistadors such as Francisco Pizarro.

The second ship ‘‘is another Spanish ship, presumably from the first period of the colonial epoch’’, said Institute director Rafael Ruiloba.

‘‘It could be another ship belonging to the Columbus fleet given that it was found along the route of Columbus’ fourth and last route’’ in 1502, Sr Ruiloba said.

The second ship appears to be larger than the first, which measured 60 to 70 feet long. Archeologists were planning to visit both sites as soon as next week to inspect the two vessels.

Experts say there is some evidence to support the theory that the first ship discovered is indeed the Vizcaina.

Historical records indicate Columbus’s crew scuttled the Vizcaina in 1503 after it sprung leaks near Portobelo, about 18 miles away from Nombre de Dios.

The wreck off Nombre de Dios was made with wooden pegs rather than iron nails - an indication that it is a very old vessel. Additionally, the ship’s bottom is not covered with sheets of lead, a practice the Spaniards began in 1508 to combat marine worms that ate wooden hulls.

The three 5-foot cannons recovered so far from the first wreck, complete with stone projectiles the size of soccer balls, match the kind of ‘‘lombard’’ cannons the earliest explorers and conquerers would have used.