Over the past two years, this blog has discussed the quest to find the lost 17th-century ship known as Le Griffon or "the Griffin." WZZM reports that divers have confirmed a wreck off the coast of Muskegon, MI, near Lake Michigan, is not the wreck they are looking for. State divers investigated the site alongside Wayne Lusardi, a State Maritime Archeologist.
As we have noted before, the Griffin was built and led by French commander Rene-Robert Sieur de La Salle in 1679. The historical value and mysterious disappearance of the vessel have made it a hotly hunted artifact site for archeologists.
As Lusardi told the source, the ship is very clearly not the Griffin, hailing from a different century entirely than the target ship and showing signs of having been burnt. However, the new ship's specific identity remains to be determined, despite some definite clues as to its time of origin and original purpose.
"It's definitely a 19th- or early 20th-century American craft; it has steam technology; it is too big be the Griffin, so there's a lot of evidence that's contrary to that Griffon claim," Lusardi tells WZZM. "It's about 80 feet in length and a little over 20 feet in beam, with a 10-foot depth hold." He also said that it fits the historical trend for most shipwrecks in that area. More than 20 claims have been made to finding the Griffin in the hundreds of years since it was lost.
Anticipating the element of risk and uncertainty in these cases is one way to focus on efficient operations. With tailored marine insurance, official state organizations can protect equipment and individuals with a comprehensive, tailor-made plan for equipment. In salvage cases, additional coverage can be granted based on wreck removal and other costs.