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.
Advertisement
“Great news! We have found the San Jose galleon, President Juan Manuel Santos announced on his Twitter account”.
The San Jose was part of a Spanish fleet that sailed to the Americas to load up with gold, silver, emeralds and other precious stones and metals.
Since being discovered, the ship (which maritime experts consider the holy grail of Spanish colonial shipwrecks) has been the subject of a legal battle in the U.S., Colombia and Spain over who owns the rights to the sunken treasure. The US company has since filed suits in both the US and Colombia, and while SSA claims it won a Colombian Supreme Court verdict that held all treasure be split 50-50, Colombia Cultural Minister Mariana Garcés Córdoba said at a press conference Saturday that all court rulings – in both countries – have favored the Colombian government.
SSA has been claiming billions of dollars for breach of contract from the Colombian government, but in 2011 an American court ruled that the galleon was the property of the Colombian state.
CULTU/EPA Pots discovered at the site of the archaeological site of 18th-century Spanish galleon San Jose.
Santos said that many details about the discovery need to remain under wraps and that the presidency was the only institution authorized to provide information about the find.
The ship’s cargo, originally collected in South American colonies, was meant to be transported to Spain to help King Philip V finance the war effort.
Santos also confirmed that a museum containing the ship’s treasure and artifacts will be constructed in Cartagena after the wreckage is excavated. Only a handful of the ship’s crew survived.
National Maritime Museum This oil painting by Samuel Scott depicts the sinking of the San Jose galleon.
Mr Santos tweeted: “Great news!”
“I believe the ship’s side blew out, for she caused a sea that came in our ports”.
Ernesto Montenegro, head of the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History, hailed the discovery as a “major triumph”.
Advertisement
There could be up to 1000 shipwrecks off the Caribbean coast of Colombia, but of those only between six and 10 had large treasure cargoes, anthropologist Fabian Sanabria said. “She immediately sank with all her riches”.
