Colombia declares the wreck will be raised before President Gustavo Petro’s term of office ends in 2026Around 200 tons of gold, silver and emeralds are thought to be on board the legendary Spanish flagship which sunk during a skirmish with the British in 1708But Colombia faces competing claims from Spain, Bolivia, and a US company which claims it found it first
The ‘Holy Grail of shipwrecks’ containing up to 200 tons of gold, silver and emeralds could be floating on the Caribbean within months after Colombia declared a national mission to recover the treasure.
The Spanish galleon San Jose sank off the Colombian port of Cartagena after its powder magazines detonated during a skirmish with the British in 1708. On board were treasures worth up to $20 billion in today’s money along with 600 sailors, all but 11 of whom went down with the ship.
In 2015, the Colombian government announced that a team of navy divers had discovered the legendary ship lying in nearly 3,100 feet of water. Last year, another team brought back jaw-dropping images of its perfectly preserved cargo.
Now, the Colombian government has said it will be raised before President Gustavo Petro ends his term of office in 2026.
But there is going to be an almighty fight over who owns the wreck, with a US firm claiming it found the boat and demanding half the loot. Also laying claims, are the Spanish government and an indigenous group.
The San Jose galleon was owned by the Spanish crown when it was sunk by the British Navy near Cartagena in 1708, and only 11 of its 600-strong crew survived
The San Jose was a 62-gun galleon that went down on June 8, 1708, with 600 people on board
Gold coins were also picked up on the video released by the Colombian government
American research company, Glocca Morra, claims it found the San Jose in 1981 and turned the coordinates over to the Colombians on the condition it would receive half the fortune once the vessel was recovered.
But this was countered in 2015 by Colombia’s then-President Juan Manuel Santos who said the Navy had found the boat at a different location on the sea bed.
Glocca Morra, now called Sea Search Armada, is suing for half the treasure – around $10bn according to estimates – under the US-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement, according to Bloomberg.
But the Colomobian Minister of Culture Juan David Correa said the government’s team had visited the coordinates given by Sea Search Armada and found no trace of the San Jose.
Complicating matters further, there are competing claims from the Spanish – whose Navy the vessel belonged to – and Bolivia’s indigenous Qhara Qhara nation which says its people were forced to mine the gold and jewels, so the treasures belong to them.
Meanwhile, Colombia has hailed the find as a huge historic and cultural achievement.
Correa told Bloomberg: ‘This is one of the priorities for the Petro administration. The president has told us to pick up the pace.’
The 62-gun galleon was sailing from Portobelo in Panama at the head of a treasure fleet of 14 merchant vessels and three Spanish warships when it encountered the British squadron near Barú.
The equipment used for searching of the remains of the galleon San Jose submerged almost 3,100 feet under the Colombian Caribbean Sea. It was operated by naval officials
A remotely operated vehicle reached a depth of almost 3,100 fee allowing new videos of the wreckage. Operators found the found it untouched by ‘human intervention’
An intact Chinese dinner set and other crockery were amongst the ship’s treasures
The Colombian army has revealed images of the wreck of the San Jose galleon, one of the largest of the Spanish Navy, sunk 300 years ago with its treasure off the Caribbean coast
The images offer the best-yet view of the treasure that was aboard the San Jose – including Porcelain crockery, pottery and glass bottles
Recovering the ship and its bounty will be a challenge due to its depth underwater
Spain and Britain were fighting the War of the Spanish Succession at the time and the Royal Navy was approaching dominance on the high seas when it sent the San Jose to the bottom.
Images recovered last year show a part of the bow clearly seen covered in algae and shellfish, as well as the remains of the frame of the hull.
The images offer the best-yet view of the treasure that was aboard the San Jose – including gold ingots and coins, muddy cannons made in Seville in 1655 and an intact Chinese dinner service.
Porcelain crockery, pottery and glass bottles can also be seen.
WHAT WAS THE SAN JOSE GALLEON AND WHY DID IT SINK?
The San Jose was a 62-gun, three-masted galleon that went down on June 8, 1708, with 600 people on board
It was one of many Spanish galleons that made trips between Europe and the Americas between the 16th and 18th Century
When it sank, the San Jose was transporting plundered gold, silver, emeralds and other precious stones and metals from the Americans back to Spain
This wealth was helping finance Spain’s war of succession against Britain
The ship gained a reputation as the ‘holy grail’ of shipwrecks and was carrying one of the most valuable hauls of treasure ever lost at sea – worth around £12.6 billion ($17 billion)
It was found submerged off the coast of Baru in what is now Colombia, near the Rosario Islands by a team of international experts, the Colombian Navy and the country’s archaeology institute
Why did it sink?
The San Jose galleon was sailing from Portobelo, Panama as the flagship of a treasure fleet of 14 merchant vessels and three Spanish warships when it encountered a British squadron
The San Jose was tracked down 16 miles (26km) off Cartagena, near Barú, by English Commodore Charles Wager from the Royal Navy on 8 June 1708
A fight ensued, known as ‘Wager’s Action’
Sources say that Wager initially planned to take control of the Spanish ship’s crew and cargo
However, the powder magazines on San Jose detonated, destroying the treasure-laden ship before it could be captured
Most of the 600 souls aboard perished when the vessel sank
The British prevented the Spanish fleet from transporting the gold and silver to Europe in order to fund further war efforts but the loot would have been vast if they had managed to capture the ship
Share or comment on this article:
San Jose shipwreck to dubbed ‘the Holy Grail’ to be exhumed off Colombia with $20 billion sunken treasure
Source link
CHECK OUT: Top Travel Destinations
READ MORE: Travel News
