AH-WR-1204

La Unión

Paddle Steamer · Spain · Lost 1861 · The Mexican Gulf Coast & Campeche

A mid-19th-century Spanish paddle steamer found off Sisal, identified by INAH as evidence of the illicit trafficking of Maya captives to Cuba.

Become Captain of Record

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Interpretive Reconstruction, drawn to convey the vessel's era, type and general form. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Discovered less than four kilometers off the Yucatán port of Sisal, this paddle-wheel steamship was identified in 2017 by INAH underwater archaeologists as La Unión, a Spanish-owned vessel that operated out of Havana. Fieldwork tied the wreck to the illicit 19th-century trade in Maya captives, taken during the Caste War of Yucatán (1847-1901) and shipped to Cuba to work on sugar plantations. The find added rare physical evidence to a documented but understudied episode of forced labor trafficking from the Yucatán coast.

Vessel

Built: Not established
Builder: Not established
Yard: Not established
Material: Wood
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Steam, side paddle wheels
Owners: Spanish shipping company operating out of Havana, Cuba

Loss

Date: January 1, 1861
Cause: Not established
Location: Off Sisal, Yucatán, less than 4 kilometers from shore
Water: Gulf of Mexico
Voyage: Sisal, Yucatán → Cuba
Cargo: Maya people trafficked to work on Cuban sugar plantations, during the Caste War of Yucatán (1847-1901)
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Number of Maya captives aboard and any lost is not established in the sources reviewed.
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Not established
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: 2017
Protection: Underwater cultural heritage documented under INAH's Integral Project for the Submerged Cultural Heritage of the Yucatán Peninsula

Position

Coordinates: Not established
Accuracy: Approximate position
Nearest: Sisal, Yucatán
Region: The Mexican Gulf Coast & Campeche

Reported as roughly 2 kilometers northeast of the Sisal harbor entrance; a precise decimal position was not found in the sources reviewed.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Partially documented (60/100)

The exact date and cause of loss, and the number of people aboard, are not established in the sources reviewed.

Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), Revista Glifos
Identification of the wreck, ownership, route, and connection to Caste War-era trafficking of Maya people.
Mexico News Daily
Discovery announcement, location off Sisal, and historical context.