The company was previously engaged in a long-running battle with the government of Colombia claiming billions of dollars for a breach of contract until the U.S. court ruled in favour of Colombia in 2011. The location of the find is still being held close to the vest of Colombian officials, but in 1981, an American company – The Sea Search Armada – claimed that it had found the area where the shipwreck was likely located and has been looking to split the profits from a find since then.
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However, Colombia’s Culture Secretary Mariane Garces denied this on Saturday, stating at a press conference that all lawsuits favored Colombia’s claim to the entirety of the treasure found within its naval territory.
Some 600 people died in the shipwreck.
“We’re going to talk”, insisted Garcia-Margallo, who has described relations with Colombia as “sensational”, and said that, if the matter can not be resolved in a friendly manner, “they will understand that we will demand and defend our rights, just as I understand that they will defend and demand their rights”. Later he went on television from Cartagena’s naval base and said: “Without a doubt, we have found, 307 years after it sank, the San Jose galleon”.
The San Jose was attacked by British warships and sunk June 8, 1708.
Even better, for the last 30-plus years the ship has apparently been the subject of a dispute between the Colombian government and a USA company called Sea Search whose investors included TV actor Michael Landon and convicted-felon Nixon henchman John Ehrlichman.
For years, the sunken galleon has eluded treasure hunters, but it now appears the “holy grail” of shipwrecks has finally been found. Colombia says that number should be five percent. “It’s the same mentality as the conquistadors”, he told CNN.
The ship was discovered resting off the Colombian coastal city of Cartagena.
“In the armada of 1708, the value of the cargo on the flagship alone exceeded Spain’s annual national income from all sources”.
The galleon was the main ship in a treasure fleet carrying gold, silver and other valuable items from Spain’s American colonies to King Philip V.
“The galleons were lumbering bank vaults”, according to SSA’s historical account. Santos says the find “constitutes one of the greatest – if not the biggest, as some say – discoveries of submerged patrimony in the history of mankind”.
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“The Colombian government will continue its process of research, exploration and protection of underwater cultural heritage, in accordance with the laws and current public policy of the Colombian State”, said Santos.
