I chuckled out loud when I read the statement from the news article in red. The fine folks at Patronato Panama Viejo are some of the most useless and arrogant people I've come across. For example, there were at least 3 people that I know of who approached these "professionals" at different times years ago to inform them of the location of the original, colonial site of Nombre de Dios, Panama with the hope that they would preserve the site and do a proper study. On part of the site, a manganese mining company had already destroyed a nice chunk of it. Without exception, these guys just shrugged and showed no interest in the site whatsoever.
And what's it been? 7-8 years since Morgan's supposed ship and cannons were found during this Morgan Rum exhibition? There is still nothing regarding the wreck at the PPV museum the last time I was there and I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for the any relics to be preserved and displayed. They simply don't care, are corrupt, and/or don't care enough to put forth some effort into it. I know there are those who practice the metal detecting hobby in Panama who would be happy to give over any colonial relics as long as they would be properly studied, preserved and displayed, however, in Panama it would never happen. They would disappear, never to be seen again.
Kanacki- your second comment about these scientists being presumptuous in declaring the vessel one of Morgan's ships is spot on according to a friend of mine in Panama. This guy actually dove on the site in the 1970s and knows more about Spanish Colonial artifacts than most and he told me that they have the wrong ship. It also should be noted that this area near Fort San Lorenzo was part of the American Canal Zone for almost 90 years and thus, there were many Zonians and military personnel who also dove on the site for decades. It was looted heavily and it was always reported from these guys that there were numerous shipwrecks in the vicinity. Many of the most recent were from the Gold Rush '49er period (1849 to about 1855).
