A San Jose shipwreck called the “Holy Grail” is unearthed off the coast of Colombia and contains sunken treasure worth $20 billion

The “Holy Grail of shipwrecks” containing up to 200 tons of gold, silver and emeralds could float in the Caribbean within months after Colombia announced a national mission to recover the treasure.

The Spanish galleon San Jose sank off the Colombian port of Cartagena after its powder magazines exploded during a skirmish with the British in 1708. On board were treasure worth up to $20 billion (in today’s equivalent) and 600 sailors, all but 11 of whom perished. by boat.

In 2015, the Colombian government announced that a team of Navy divers had discovered the iconic ship at a depth of nearly 3,000 feet. Last year, another team brought back beautiful images of their perfectly preserved cargo.

Now the Colombian government has said the proposal will be increased before President Gustavo Petro ends his term in 2026.

But a bitter battle ensues over who owns the wreck, with an American company claiming to have found the boat and claiming half of the spoils. Other claims involve the Spanish government and an indigenous group.

The San Jose was a 62-gun galleon that sank on June 8, 1708 with 600 people on board

Gold coins were also confiscated in the video released by the Colombian government

The American research firm Glocca Morra claims to have found the San Jose in 1981 and gave the coordinates to the Colombians on the condition that it would receive half of the assets once the ship was recovered.

However, this was contradicted in 2015 by then-Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, who said the navy had found the boat elsewhere on the seabed.

According to Bloomberg, Glocca Morra, now called Sea Search Armada, is suing for half of the treasure – estimated to be around $10 billion – as part of the US-Colombia trade facilitation agreement.

However, Colombian Culture Minister Juan David Correa said the government team visited the coordinates of the Sea Search Armada and found no trace of the San Jose.

Complicating matters are the competing claims of the Spanish (whose fleet owned the ship) and Bolivia’s indigenous Qhara-Qhara nation, who claim the population was forced to mine gold and jewels so the treasures would be theirs.

Colombia has since celebrated the discovery as a major historical and cultural achievement.

Correa told Bloomberg: “This is one of the priorities of the Petro government. The president said we have to pick up the pace.”

The 62-gun galleon was sailing from Portobelo, Panama, at the head of a treasure fleet of fourteen merchant ships and three Spanish warships when it encountered the British squadron near Barú.

The equipment used to search the remains of the galleon San Jose was located nearly 900 meters deep in Colombia’s Caribbean Sea. It was administered by naval officers

A remotely operated vehicle has reached a depth of nearly 3,100 meters, making new videos of the wreck possible. The operators noted that the find was untouched by “human intervention.”

The ship’s treasures included an intact set of Chinese dishes and other utensils

The Colombian military has unveiled images of the wreckage of the Galleon San Jose, one of the Spanish Navy’s largest galleons, which sank off the Caribbean coast 300 years ago with its treasure.

The images offer the best look yet at the treasure found aboard the San Jose – including porcelain dishes, pottery and glass bottles

Due to the depth under the water, recovering the ship and its riches will be a challenge

Spain and Britain were fighting in the War of the Spanish Succession at the time, and the Royal Navy moved closer to supremacy on the high seas when it sank the San Jose.

Images recovered last year show part of the bow clearly covered in algae and crustaceans, as well as the remains of the hull frame.

The images offer the best look yet at the treasure found aboard the San Jose – including gold bars and coins, muddy cannons from 1655 Seville and intact Chinese dishes.

Porcelain dishes, earthenware and glass bottles are also on display.