Legendary Ship Wreck Found Off Colombia

Colombian officials would not reveal the precise location of the wreck, but Mr Santos said the find “constitutes one of the greatest – if not the biggest, as some say – discoveries of submerged patrimony in the history of mankind”.

This is the first look at the wreck of a Spanish galleon that sank off the coast of Cartagena that is thought be laden with with emeralds and gold and silver coins.

Wager described the close quarters broadsides, and said the San Jose exploded with such intensity that he could feel the heat from his own ship.

The San Jose, a Spanish treasure galleon, was sunk by the British 300 years ago.

The discovery is the latest chapter in a saga that began three centuries ago, on June 8, 1708, when the galleon ship with 600 people aboard sank as it was trying to outrun a fleet of British warships attempting to take its cargo, as part of the War of Spanish Succession.

Experts confirmed that they found the San Jose on November 27, Santos said.

Nautical Historian Daniel de Narváez Mcallister told El Espectador newspaper that the San José is the Holy Grail for treasure hunters because it was carrying the accumulation of six years worth of gold and silver being sent back to Spain – making it the most valuable shipwreck in the Western Hemisphere.

The Colombian government did not mention its long-running quarrel with US-based salvage company Sea Search Armada (SSA) over claims to the treasure. Using underwater mapping, investigators studied thousands of anomalies and found five shipwrecks in the search area, he said.

The experts confirmed that they located the San Jose because the ship was carrying unique bronze cannons with engraved dolphins.

“I am very pleased, as head of state, to inform you that, without a doubt, we have found, 307 years after its sinking, the galleon San Jose“, Santos said at a press conference.

The ship was found near Colombia’s Rosario Islands, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) off the coast of the city Cartagena.

Few government spokespeople will be able to speak further on the galleon until more investigations are completed, Santos said. Their current value is estimated at between $NZ6 and $25 billion.