But officials aren’t talking about it yet

VERMILION — Somewhere beneath the more than 9,000 square miles of water in Lake Erie, divers from the Great Lakes Historical Society have located a shipwreck.
But information on where the discovery rests, and what ship it is, is being kept under lock and key until officials gather today at the Inland Seas Maritime Museum in Vermilion.
No attempts to coax even a hint about what was found were successful.
“We will be able to answer your questions at the press conference,” Great Lakes Historical Society Executive Director Chris Gillcrist said.
What is known is that the ship was found through a cooperative effort with the Cleveland Underwater Explorers group.
For the past 18 months, the two groups have been conducting an extensive search for an estimated 1,200 shipwrecks that have yet to be discovered in Lake Erie.
In a press release Tuesday, Gillcrist said the discovery of the wreck was of significant historical importance.
But he made certain that all of the hatches were battened before he sent it. The director of the Cleveland group routed callers back to Gillcrist’s office.
 “You will have to talk to Mr. Gillcrist about the press release. Otherwise, you will have to wait for the press conference,” Cleveland Underwater Explorers Director David VanZandt said.
Great Lakes shipwreck experts from across the Midwest don’t seem to have any idea what the ship might be as curators from the Erie Maritime Museum in Erie, Pa., and the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., said they hadn’t heard anything about a wreck being found.
The only person who seemed to know anything about the wreck was Lorain Safety Service Director Mike Kobylka, and even that wasn’t much. He said all he knew was that a ship had been found, and that it wasn’t in the city’s waterways.
“All I know is that I gave (the Great Lakes Historical Society) permission to dock their boat at the Pellet Terminal this weekend while they were doing research,” Kobylka said. “That’s all they would tell me. I have no idea what the boat is or where it is.”
Contact Joe Medici at 329-7152 or jmedici@chroniclet.com.

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