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The “holy grail of shipwrecks” with $20 billion in treasure on board, the Spanish galleon San Jose, will be raised from the sea floor more than three centuries after it was sunk.
The Spanish galleon San Jose was sunk on June 8, 1708 along with 600 members of its crew off the coast of Colombia during the War of Spanish Succession.
On board the San Jose at the time of its sinking was treasure containing up to 200 tons of gold, silver and emeralds.
In 2015, the huge 62 gun galleon, sunk during a skirmish with the British, was located by a team of Colombian navy divers nearly 3,100 feet under water.
In 2022, another team of divers was able to capture images of the treasure on the San Jose showing it was still in perfectly preserved condition.
Now, the Colombian government has announced plans to raise the San Jose before its country’s president, Gustavo Petro, leaves office in 2026.
Naturally, with such a massive amount of money at stake, there are people disputing who will actually own the treasure once it is recovered.
The Colombian government, the Spanish government, United States-based salvage firm Sea Search Armada, and the Qhara Qhara indigenous people of Bolivia are all claiming at least part ownership of the treasure.
There are also those who believe no one owns it and that it should be left where it lays as a war grave due to the 600 crew members who perished when the ship was sunk.
Sea Search Armada claims it found the San Jose in 1981 and only turned over the location of the San Jose to the Colombian government on the condition it would receive half of the treasure.
Colomobian Minister of Culture Juan David Correa claims that the coordinates given to them by Sea Search Armada were incorrect.
Bolivia’s indigenous Qhara Qhara believe the treasure belongs to them because their people were the ones forced to mine the gold and jewels.
The Spanish government, of course, claims the treasure belongs to them since, well, it’s their ship.