Legendary 300-year-old shipwreck called ‘Holy Grail’ with a horde of treasures of ‘incalculable wealth’ to be raided by a robot
THE LEGENDARY shipwreck that sank just off the coast of Colombia is set to be ambushed by a money-grabbing robot.
The tragic San Jose galleon was filled to the brim with 200 tons of gold, silver and emeralds – now worth at least $20 billion – when it was shot down by the British three centuries ago.
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The ‘Holy Grail of shipwrecks’ sank off the coast Colombian port of Cartagena in 1708, where it rested until 2015, unknown.
Now, almost a decade after the discovery, the Colombian government has announced that an underwater robot will be sent to extract some of the “incalculable wealth” from the wreck.
Colombian Culture Minister Juan David Correa revealed that the robot will try to take treasures from the outskirts of the galleon to see “how they materialize when they come out.”
The project is expected to cost the government more than $4.5 million, with the hope that it will help experts understand how to recover the remaining wealth.
The state-of-the-art robot will work at a depth of 600 meters to extract materials “without modifying or damaging the wreck,” Correa said.
Although the robotic equipment will be submerged, it will be connected to a naval vessel that will use cameras to comprehensively record its every move.
Naval researcher Captain Alexandra Chadid explained that after three centuries of being submerged in the sea, most of the treasure has undergone physical and chemical changes.
The primary goal of the mission is therefore to determine how to prevent the treasure from disintegrating when it is pulled from the water.
Back in 2017, the Colombian Navy sent a remotely operated vehicle to a depth of 900 meters to assess the wreckage and give a glimpse into what was on board.
Incredible images showed gold pieces, cannons and perfectly preserved Chinese porcelain cups scattered throughout the San Jose.
Trinkets were seen twinkling under the lights of the cameras while bronze cannons, swords and clay ships were spotted on the seabed.
Historians called it the ‘Holy Grail’ because it carried one of the largest amounts of treasure ever lost at sea.
The expedition to recover the fortune would begin between April and May, depending on weather conditions.
But the discovery of the The legendary galleon has been embroiled in long-standing tensions in terms of ownership.
Spain has insisted that the sunken treasure is their property as it was a Spanish ship.
We just want our ancestors to have peace
Samuel Flores
While BoliviaThe indigenous Qhara Qhara nation has said that they were forced to mine the treasures for the Spanish, and thus it is rightfully theirs.
The American research firm Glocca Morra, now called Sea Search Armada, claims they found the San Jose in 1981 and gave the coordinates for half the bounty to the Colombians.
This was denied by former Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, who claimed that the navy had found the ship in a different location.
Colombia now considers the San Jose as part of its cultural heritage and as it was found by them in their territorial waters.
And the current president of Colombia, left Gustavo Petrohas followed the same line.
He has desperately tried to use the country’s own resources to recover the wreckage and ensure it remains in Colombia.
For Petro, the importance of the wreck trumps the treasure, and he hopes that countries will not fight for it as if they were still in colonial times.
It is thought that Joaquin de Aristegui, the Spanish ambassador to Colombia, will offer Petro a bilateral deal to protect the wreck.
Bolivia has also indicated its willingness to work with Petro’s government; they only ask for a few pieces of the ship.
Indigenous leader Samuel Flores said, “Not just because of the symbolic issue, but more because of the spiritual issue.
“We just want our ancestors to have peace.”
Meanwhile, Sea Search Armada is suing for half the treasure – estimated at an eye-watering $10 billion.
The actual location of the wreck is still unknown, but it is believed to be just off the coast of Colombia, in the Caribbean Sea.
Only the Colombian government knows the exact coordinates.
What happened to the San Jose Galleon?
The San Jose was part of a fleet that transported jewelry, precious metals and 11 million gold and silver coins from the Spanish colonies in South America.
The cargo was intended to help Spanish King Philip V finance his war against Great Britain.
But the British weren’t the only ones with their eyes on the galleons.
Frequent voyages on Spanish treasure ships had led to a golden age of piracy – during which marauders sank more than a thousand Spanish ships off the coast of Colombia during three centuries of colonial rule.
The 600-strong crew of the San José knew the voyage would be fraught with danger.
But they were barely 16 miles away when they were tracked down by the English
Commodore Charles Wager, commander of four British ships, including HMS Expedition.
Wager’s plan was to seize the San José, the largest ship in the fleet.
But before boarding could take place, something went terribly wrong and the San José exploded.
In his logbook, Wager described an explosion so intense that he could feel the heat from his own ship.
He wrote: ‘I believe the side of the ship blew out, for she caused a sea to come into our ports.
“She sank immediately with all her riches.”
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