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by Mick the Ram
The government of Colombia has unveiled plans to explore a wreck off its coast in the Caribbean Sea that is more than 300 years old and is thought to contain a treasure trove worth an estimated $20 billion.
The San Jose was a three-masted, 62-gun Spanish galleon, and is believed to hold 11 million gold and silver coins, emeralds and other precious cargo taken from then Spanish-held colonies in South America.
It was sunk on June 8, 1708, with more than 600 people on board during the War of Spanish Succession, after being ambushed by an English squadron as it was returning to Spain.
It was back in 2015 that a Colombian-led search mission found the shipwreck around 3,000 feet beneath the sea’s surface. Now they intend to return to the deep and retrieve its riches using submerged robotic technology.
There has been a hotly-contested legal dispute carrying on for some time now over who has rightful claim to the vessel’s remarkable cargo, so much so that it has often been referred to as the “holy grail” of shipwrecks.
Heading home laden with treasure
Launched in 1698, the ship sank in a battle off Barú Island, south of Cartagena. It was travelling back from Panama as the flagship of a fleet of merchant vessels and war ships, heading for the court of King Philip V of Spain, laden with riches plundered from the Americas, to add to the royal chest.
It was one of many Spanish galleons that made trips between Europe and the Americas between the 16th and 18th Century.
Wager’s Action
Historians have grasped that it was intercepted by a British squadron, led by Commodore Charles Wager from the Royal Navy, and a fierce battle ensued, which later became known as “Wager’s Action”.
During the fight the galleon’s powder magazines detonated, destroying the ship and taking its crew to the bottom of the sea.
Fabulous images
It would be more than 300 years later when the ship was finally located, submerged near the Rosario Islands of Colombia, by a team of international experts, the Colombian Navy and the country’s archaeology institute.
It lay in just over 3,000 feet of water, but further visits were able to bring back astonishing images of its perfectly preserved cargo.
These pictures clearly showed a part of the bow covered in algae and shellfish, as well as the remains of the frame of the hull.
Other incredible items that were viewed included: gold ingots and coins, porcelain crockery, cannons known to have been made in Seville around 1655, and a fully intact Chinese dinner service.
Money well spent?
It has now been disclosed that around $4.5 million has been invested in an archaeological expedition, that will embark on the recovery of these hidden treasures in April or May of this year.
Culture Minister, Juan David Correa, explained that an underwater robot will attempt to extract items from the exterior of the galleon, with the initial aim being to see just how these particulars materialize once out of the water.
From there a decision will be made on how to continue with the ultimate mission of bringing up the lost treasure, which Mr Correa said could have a value that is “incalculable”.
Four-way dispute
As is often the case with things like this, the ship’s discovery has sparked an almighty row over ownership. Naturally the Colombians insist it is theirs. It lies in their waters and it is their resources that are funding the recovery.
Spain however, claim that as it is a Spanish galleon, it is by rights their property on board. Countering that claim is Bolivia’s indigenous Qhara Qhara nation, which says its people were forced to mine the raw materials by the Spanish colonists, so the gold and jewels belong to them, and it is they who should inherit the treasure trove.
A further complication comes in the form of the American research company, Glocca Morra, now called Sea Search Armada. They assert that it was they who first discovered the San Jose, way back in 1981 and only turned the coordinates over to the Colombians on the condition that they would receive half the fortune, once the vessel was recovered.
This has turned into a multi-billion dollar legal dispute, with the company suing for half the estimated value, which at present would be around $10billion, under the US-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement.
The complexities of the whole situation are seemingly almost as deep as the ship’s current location!
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