A shipwreck believed to hold one of the greatest lost treasures in history has been confirmed by researchers, igniting a multi-billion-pound legal battle over who owns it.
For more than 300 years, the wreck of the Spanish galleon San Jose—carrying gold, silver and emeralds worth an estimated £16 billion—was lost beneath the waters of the Caribbean.
But now, academics in Colombia say they have definitively identified the wreckage discovered in 2015 near Baru Island, off the coast of Cartagena, as the legendary ship that sank in 1708 after a fierce battle with the Royal Navy, reports The Telegraph.
Dubbed the “holy grail of shipwrecks”, the San Jose was carrying treasure from Peru to Spain to fund the Spanish side of the War of the Spanish Succession, when it was intercepted by a British squadron under Charles Wager, who would later become First Lord of the Admiralty.
During the confrontation, the ship’s powder magazines exploded, sending it and its precious cargo to the seabed.
The vessel was thought lost forever, but in 2015 an expedition using underwater drones captured images of the wreckage on the ocean floor. Now, experts believe the mystery is finally solved.
“This body of evidence substantiates the identification of the wreck as the San José Galleon, a hypothesis that has been put forward since its initial discovery in 2015,” the academics found.
“The finding of cobs created in 1707 at the Lima Mint points to a vessel navigating the Tierra Firme route in the early 18th century. The San José Galleon is the only ship that matches these characteristics.
“This find presents a rare opportunity to explore an underwater archaeological site and deepen our understanding of colonial maritime trade and routes.”
Photographs of the wreck show silver coins minted in 1707 at the Lima Mint, Chinese porcelain from the Kangxi period (1662–1722), and cannons inscribed with markings dating back to 1665.
These discoveries, researchers say, can only point to one ship: the San Jose.
A treasure battle erupts
However, the confirmation of the wreck’s identity has reignited a fierce ownership row involving multiple parties, each laying claim to the sunken treasure.
The governments of Colombia, Spain and Peru, indigenous communities, and even the descendants of the miners who unearthed the gold and silver in Peru have all staked a claim.
Also at the centre of the controversy is Glocca Morra, a treasure hunting company that says it discovered the wreck as far back as 1981. Its successor, Sea Search Armada, is now demanding £7.9 billion and says the current find is within “a mile or two” of its original coordinates.
The firm is also contesting a 2020 Colombian law which states that everything aboard the galleon is the property of the Colombian government.
The San Jose’s sinking was a significant blow to Spain’s war effort in the 18th century. The War of the Spanish Succession eventually ended with Britain gaining control of Gibraltar, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia—but the legendary treasure stayed hidden.
Now, after centuries underwater, the riches of the San Jose could finally see the light of day—if anyone can agree on who they belong to.