Since the Colombian Navy discovered the final resting place of the Spanish galleon San Jose in 2015, its location has remained a state secret. The wreck, and its precious cargo, have remained deep in the waters of the Caribbean.
Efforts to preserve the ship and recover its valuable cargo have been caught up in a complicated series of international legal disputes, involving Colombia, Spain, Bolivian Indigenous groups, and a United States (U.S.) salvage company laying claim to the wreck, and the gold, silver, and emeralds on board estimated to be worth as much as 17 billion dollars.
But eight years after its discovery, officials now say they are pushing politics aside and could begin raising artifacts from the “holy grail of shipwrecks” as early as April.
“There has been this persistent view of the galleon as a treasure trove. We want to turn the page on that,” Alhena Caicedo, director of the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History, said. “We aren’t thinking about treasure. We’re thinking about how to access the historical and archeological information at the site.”
The San Jose was returning to Europe with treasure to help finance the War of the Spanish Succession when it was sunk by a British squadron in 1708, near the Caribbean port city of Cartagena.
The San Jose’s cargo includes items made of glass, porcelain, and leather, and historians hope that this haul could help them understand the global trading networks of the 18th century, the complex Spanish colonial hierarchies, and the lives of the 600 souls on board.
“The contents are really diverse, and we have no idea how the remains will react when they come into contact with oxygen. We don’t even know if it’s possible to retrieve anything from the water,” said Caicedo.
The exact location of the wreck is a state secret to protect it from looters, but Colombian authorities have revealed that it lies 600 meters below sea level – too deep for divers to reach.
The country’s military is currently developing underwater robots that will first photograph, film, and map the wreck before attempting any careful retrieval, Klix.ba reports.
Photo ©️ Picture by English photographer Samuel Scott showing the sinking of the ship/photo of the guns from the ship
