Following a historic Spanish shipwreck loaded with treasure, Colombian Navy officials found the wreckage of two more ships in the same area.
The San José galleon was sunk in the Caribbean Sea by British pirates near the port of Cartagena in 1708. However, about 600 people disappeared, and an estimated billions of dollars worth of gold, silver, and emeralds were lost that the Spanish carried from their colonies in South America to Europe.
Described as the “Holy Grail of shipwrecks” because of the enormous amount of valuables it carries, it disappeared for three centuries at the bottom of the ocean, which the Colombian government announced in 2015.
Now, a remote-controlled vehicle monitoring the wreck has detected two more debris nearby.
Image: Presentation/National Maritime Museum
“We have two other discoveries in the same area that show other avenues for archaeological exploration,” said Admiral Gabriel Pérez, the navy commander. “The work has just begun.”
As archaeologists work to discover the origin of the dishes, images taken by the monitoring team give a clearer view of the treasure at San José, including gold bars and coins, cannons made in Seville in 1655, and an intact Chinese dinnerware. Authorities said there are visible inscriptions.
Colombian President Iván Duque showed unreleased footage from a depth of more than a thousand meters at a press conference yesterday. According to him, one of the ships is from the colonial period and the other is from the republican period of the country.
In addition to these, the President said the Navy could find “a dozen similar ships.”
Why is the San José treasure still under water today?
The San José galleon has been at the center of a long legal dispute, the reason why the treasure found in 2015 is still at the bottom of the sea to this day.
Alongside the treasury, Spain claims it was the “ship of the State” as both belonged to the Spanish navy when sunk and were protected by United Nations rules.
Colombia, on the other hand, claims it was in territorial waters and was discovered by the country’s navy.
And it’s not just them: The US company Sea Search Armada, which joined the public-private partnership that located the wreck in 2015, claims the government of then-President Juan Manuel Santos promised to give some of the treasury as payment. for service.
source: Noticias
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