The Spanish ship San Jose was sunk by the British fleet near the Colombian port of Cartagena in 1708. It was certainly not the first nor the last to suffer such a fate during the centuries of confrontations which took place when Europe shared the world, but this ship had the particularity that it carried a treasure…almost priceless. The building has indeed been dubbed the “holy grail of wrecks because its cargo is estimated at one worth $20 billion and notably includes coins and ingots ofgold.
However, it is only recently that an ROV (for Remotely Operated Vehicle, in English Where remotely operated vehicle) was able to provide high quality images of the wreckage. These images revealed a cannon made in Seville in 1655, an intact Chinese table service and the hull of two other ships probably dating from the Colombian War of Independence which ended in 1819.
A highly disputed heritage
The wreckage of San Jose lies at a depth of more than 940 meters but this has not prevented the conduct of underwater exploration campaigns… for the history and glory of archeology of course. Ownership of the wreckage discovered in 2015 and the loot it contains have been at the center of a legal battle between Colombia, Spain, Panama, Peru and Bolivia. However, it was Colombia that obtained the rights to this “heritage”, the exact location of which is fiercely kept secret by the country’s authorities.
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