A wreck off Cairns has been confirmed as that of HM Colonial Schooner Mermaid, archaeologists say.
Marine archaeologists have confirmed they have located the wreck of HM Colonial Schooner Mermaid in waters off Cairns in far north Queensland.
The Australian National Maritime Museum archaeologists are now convinced they have located the site where the Mermaid ran aground and broke up on the Great Barrier Reef in 1829.
On Tuesday, searchers announced they had found an anchor and other metal fittings which appeared to be from the Mermaid.
Surveying the site on Flora Reef, some 20km off Cairns, they have found further metallic objects including heavy copper sheathing which they are convinced came from the ship's hull.
"We're now certain this is a discovery of major historical importance," the leader of the museum team, curator and maritime archaeologist Kieran Hosty, said on Wednesday.
"There have been several attempts to find this site over the past 40 years or so, but it's always proved elusive.
"There's a sense of elation here now."
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