Shipwreck carrying £16bn found in Caribbean - but who should own 300 year old treasure?

Daily Record

12-06-2025

The San Jose is a Spanish galleon that was sunk in 1708 by the Royal Navy, carrying a serious amount of treasure
A shipwreck believed to contain one of history's hugest bounties of treasure- amounting to around £16 billion- has been confirmed by researchers, sparking a fiery legal battle over who should own the cash. The Spanish galleon San Jose is packed with gold, silver and emeralds, and it had been lost beneath the Caribbean waters for more than 300 years.
But the location of this long-lost ship has now reached the surface, as academics in Colombia have now definitively identified the wreckage. A wreck found near Baru Island, off the coast of Cartagena, in 2015, has now been confirmed as the legendary ship that sank in 1708 following a fierce battle with the Royal Navy, according to The Telegraph.
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Now known as the "holy grail of shipwrecks" for its bountiful riches, the San Jose was transporting treasure from Peru to Spain to finance the Spanish side of the War of the Spanish Succession. But on its journey, the vessel was intercepted by a British squadron led by Charles Wager, who later became First Lord of the Admiralty.
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During the clash, the ship's powder magazines detonated, sending it and its valuable cargo to the murky depths, reports the Express.
Finding the ship had been deemed a lost cause until an expedition in 2015 used underwater drones to capture images of the wreckage on the seabed.
Now, experts believe that the mystery has finally been solved after 300 years.
"This body of evidence substantiates the identification of the wreck as the San Jose Galleon, a hypothesis that has been put forward since its initial discovery in 2015," the academics concluded.
"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 Jose Galleon is the only ship that matches these characteristics.
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"This find presents a rare opportunity to explore an underwater archaeological site and deepen our understanding of colonial maritime trade and routes."
But as the discovery makes headlines, a legal row has ensued on where (and with whom) the treasure belongs.
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Photographs of the undersea wreck show dazzling artefacts including silver coins minted in 1707 at the Lima Mint, exquisite Chinese porcelain from the Kangxi period (1662-1722), and ancient cannons emblazoned with markings tracing back to 1665.
Colombia, Spain and Peru are all gunning for the treasure, with each nation laying historical claims over the sunken bounty that dates back centuries.
Indigenous groups along with descendants of the miners who originally extracted the gold and silver from Peruvian soil also demand recognition and rights to the wreck's riches.
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Adding to the high seas drama is Glocca Morra, a determined treasure-hunting outfit asserting that it pinpointed the wreck years ago, as early as 1981.
The enterprise's modern-day incarnation, Sea Search Armada, is seeking a whopping £7.9 billion, claiming that the current discovery falls within "a mile or two" of where they first detected something in the waters.
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A 2020 Colombian statute is also standing firm in its declaration that all galleon-bound remnants firmly belong to the state, a regulation that other treasure seekers firmly oppose.
The sinking of the San Jose was a major setback for Spain's war effort in the 18th century. The War of the Spanish Succession concluded with Britain taking control of Gibraltar, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, but the legendary treasure remained concealed.
Now, after centuries submerged, the riches of the San Jose might finally be revealed - but only if an agreement can be reached on who will take ownership of the treasure.
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