Colombia´s president Juan Manual Santos says a long-lost Spanish gold ship that sunk in the Caribbean in 1708 has been found off the Colombian coast.
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‘Great news! We have found the San Jose galleon.
The San Jose is one of an estimated over 1000 galleons and merchant ships that sank along Colombia’s coral reefs during more than three centuries of colonial rule.
The ship, which sank in 1708 after a battle with the British navy, is thought to be worth between $US4 billion and $US17 billion ($23.16 billion), according to court records, and was laden with gold, silver and millions of Spanish pesos at the time.
“The holy grail of shipwrecks” has finally be found off the coast of Colombia, Mashable reports.
The Colombian government did not mention its long-running quarrel with US-based salvage company Sea Search Armada (SSA) over claims to the treasure.
He added that researchers “have no doubt” that after decades of searching they have finally discovered the San Jose shipwreck as “they were able to see the brass cannons that were unique to that ship and that had dolphins carved on them”.
“President Santos remarked that all information related to the finding is secret, as the San Jose is a state affair”.
“The government may have been the one to find it but this really just reconfirms what we told them in 1982”, he told The Associated Press from his home in Barranquilla, Colombia.
“The heat of the blast came very hot upon us, and several splinters of plank and timber came on board us afire”, English Commodore Charles Wager, who led the the four-ship squadron that fought the Spanish treasure ship, wrote.
Shortly afterward, however, the government cast doubts on SSA’s claim, saying that an independent team of investigators couldn’t find evidence of a shipwreck at the coordinates provided by the company.
Santos also confirmed that a museum containing the ship’s treasure and artifacts will be constructed in Cartagena after the wreckage is excavated.
The government later reversed its agreement and said any proceeds would belong exclusively to Colombia, prompting a lawsuit from SSA.
“This is the most valuable treasure that has been found in the history of humanity”.
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The U.S., Colombia and Spain have been in a legal dispute over the treasure.
