The San Jose was carrying jewels from the South American colonies to the Spanish king to help finance The War of the Spanish Succession.
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Santos said the discovery came “at sunrise last Friday, Nov. 27” during an operation of the Colombian Anthropology and History Institute, with the participation of the Colombian navy and several worldwide scientists.
The government later said any treasure would belong to Colombia.
The Spanish galleon The San Jose was sunk by the British in 1708.
The galleon sank in the Caribbean Sea close to the walled port city of Cartagena and it is speculated to be carrying 11 million gold coins and the bodies of 600 people.
But a battle over who owns the shipwreck between the Colombian government and SSA was resolved in 2011.
Tomorrow we will provide details at a press conference from Cartagena, ‘ Colombia’s president, Juan Manuel Santos tweeted.
The location of the San Jose has been known since 1981 but efforts to explore the ship and salvage her treasure have been hampered by a dispute between the government and Sea Search Armada, an American company, over rights to the proceeds.
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Two years later, Colombia’s government overturned well-established maritime law that gives 50 percent to whoever locates a shipwreck, slashing Sea Search’s take down to a 5 percent “finder’s fee”. Its treasure is estimated to be worth somewhere between $4 billion and $17 billion. In the footage English-speaking crew members aboard a Colombian naval ship can be seen launching the underwater vehicle into the ocean.
