BOGOTA, Colombia—The Colombian government announced Thursday that it will attempt to recover relics from the 1708 disaster of the galleon San Jose, which is thought to hold a cargo worth billions of dollars.
The 300-year-old wreck, which has been dubbed the "holy grail of shipwrecks," has sparked debate since it is both an archeological and commercial prize.
According to Culture Minister Juan David Correa, the first efforts would be made between April and May, depending on Caribbean water conditions. Mr. Correa assured everyone that it would be a scientific mission.
“This is an archaeological wreck, not a treasure,” Mr. Correa said following a meeting with President Gustavo Petro. “This is an opportunity for us to become a country at the forefront of underwater archaeological research.”
However, the ship is thought to be carrying 11 million gold and silver coins, emeralds, and other valuable goods from Spanish-controlled territories, which may be worth billions of dollars if ever found.
Mr. Correa stated that the material recovered from the wreck will be brought onboard a navy ship for investigation, most likely by robotic or submersible vessels. A second effort may be planned based on the findings.
More than 300 years ago, the San Jose galleon was sunk in a combat with British ships. It was discovered in 2015, but it has been entangled in legal and diplomatic squabbles ever then.
The Colombian government abandoned efforts to explore the ship in 2018, citing disagreements with a private business that claims salvage rights under a 1980s deal with the Colombian government.
In 2018, the United Nations Cultural Organization urged Colombia not to commercialize the accident.
A UNESCO experts’ body protecting underwater cultural heritage sent a letter to Colombia expressing concern that recovering the treasure for sale rather than for its historical value “would cause the irretrievable loss of significant heritage.”
“Allowing the commercial exploitation of Colombia’s cultural heritage goes against the best scientific standards and international ethical principles as laid down especially in the UNESCO Underwater Cultural Heritage Convention,” the letter said.
Colombia has not ratified the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Law of the Sea Convention, which would subject it to international norms and force it to notify UNESCO of its plans for the wreck.
The wreck was found three years ago by an international team of specialists and autonomous underwater vehicles, and its precise position remains a state secret. The ship went down in the Caribbean Sea somewhere off Colombia's Baru peninsula, south of Cartagena.
The lost wealth has been the subject of a legal struggle in the United States, Colombia, and Spain about who owns the rights to it.
The three-decked San Jose was said to be 150 feet (45 meters) long, 45 feet (14 meters) wide, and equipped with 64 cannons.
According to Colombia, researchers discovered bronze cannons in good condition, as well as ceramic and porcelain vases and personal weaponry.
The specs of the guns, according to the experts, leave little question that the wreck is that of the San Jose.
