The Santa Maria, the largest of three ships Christopher Columbus took across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492, may have been located off the northern coast of Haiti.

According to The Independent newspaper, the wreck was discovered over a decade ago but investigators were prompted to have a second look after a team of archaeologists located the probable location of Columbus’s fort nearby. Using that new information as well as the explorer’s diaries from his historic journey suggests they’ve found the famous ship with which Columbus reconnected the Old World and New World.

“All the geographical, underwater topography and archaeological evidence strongly suggests that this wreck is Columbus’s famous flagship, the Santa Maria,” said Barry Clifford, an expert on underwater archaeological investigations leading the team.

Clifford’s efforts are part of a History Channel documentary and have the backing of the Haitian government, which is keen to see the ship recovered and put on display if possible. Unfortunately, some parts of the ship have already been looted since the initial discovery in 2003, including a cannon similar to what is thought to have been on the Santa Maria.

“We’ve informed the Haitian government of our discovery – and we are looking forward to working with them and other Haitian colleagues to ensure that the site is fully protected and preserved. It will be a wonderful opportunity to work with the Haitian authorities to preserve the evidence and artifacts of the ship that changed the world,” Clifford told The Independent. “I am confident that a full excavation of the wreck will yield the first ever detailed marine archaeological evidence of Columbus’ discovery of America.”

Columbus’s famous voyage from Spain in August of 1492 was an effort to find a new route to Asia but the Italian explorer inadvertently “discovered” the Americas when he came across islands that would become San Salvador, Cuba and Haiti, which he named Hispaniola. It was on this third island that the Santa Maria, the largest of his three ships, ran aground in December and had to be abandoned. Columbus took the remaining two ships, the Nina and the Pinta, back to Europe to announce his findings to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, his sponsors.

Strong evidence suggests Columbus was far from the first to make contact with the Americas, with the Vikings and other peoples likely making trans-Atlantic journeys centuries earlier. The idea of Columbus as “discoverer” of the Americas is also controversial because critics say it belittles the indigenous peoples who were already present on the continent and excuses subsequent European colonization.

Another common misconception is that Columbus set out to prove the Earth was round. In fact, few people in the Middle Ages still believed in a flat Earth.