PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – UNESCO has agreed to send a team of experts to a shipwreck off northern Haiti that an explorer believes may be the remains of the Santa Maria.

The U.N. cultural agency announced it would send the team in response to a request from the government of Haiti for help preserving the possible wreckage of Christopher Columbus’ flagship vessel.

A UNESCO spokeswoman says the date for the dive will depend on the weather. Spokeswoman Agnes Bardon also said Monday it’s too soon for UNESCO to say whether the wreckage is in fact that of the Santa Maria.

Explorer Barry Clifford said in May that he believes he found the Santa Maria based on the location and Columbus’ diaries, but experts expressed caution in the absence of hard evidence.