‘Holy Grail’ of shipwrecks found off Colombian coast

Dec 6, 2015- The wreck of a Spanish ship laden with treasure that was sunk by the British more than 300 years ago has been found off the Colombian coast, says President Juan Manuel Santos. Tomorrow we will provide details at a press conference from Cartagena, ‘ Colombia’s president, Juan Manuel Santos tweeted.

The company and the government agreed to split any proceeds from the wreckage, but the government later said all treasure would belong to Colombia, a view that was backed by a USA court in 2011.

Reporting from the Colombian capital Bogota, Al Jazeera’s Alessandro Rampietti said the San Jose was believed to be “the holy grail of a shipwreck”, with a trove that is “valued somewhere between $4 billion to $17b (NZ$5.9b to $25b)”.

Silver coins recovered from the San Jose. Commodore Charles Wager, in command of four British ships including HMS Expedition, attacked the fleet off the island of Baru.

Mr Santos did not mention any salvage company’s claim during his presentation, but the government said the ship had been found on November 27 in a never-before referenced location through the use of new meteorological and underwater mapping studies.

The San Jose was carrying jewels from the South American colonies to the Spanish king to help finance The War of the Spanish Succession. Ultrasound images had shown for the ship so far specially made bronze cannons, as well as weapons, ceramics and other artifacts.

Some reports said she was carrying 116 chests of emeralds, two tons of platinum and the personal wealth of the Viceroy of Peru – making her the richest treasure ship ever lost in the western hemisphere.

American salvagers, Sea Search Armada (SSA) claimed to have found the wreckage site in 1981.

It was unclear how much of the main part of the ship remained, and whether it would be brought to dry land.

The biggest find, and the most sought after, was the San Jose, Sanabria said.

Ernesto Montenegro, director of the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History of Colombia, lectures Saturday about  the remains of the Galleon San Jose..