Shipwreck filled with gold and gems worth $20 billion

The San Jose shipwreck, containing gold and precious stones worth 20 billion USD, is being quickly salvaged from the seabed by Colombian authorities.

The wreck of the San Jose at the bottom of the Caribbean Sea in 2022. Photo: Armada de la Republica de Colombia

Colombia is working to recover $20 billion worth of gold, silver and precious stones from a 300-year-old shipwreck, despite being embroiled in a lawsuit by American divers seeking half of the treasure, Ancient Origins reported on November 6. President Gustavo Petro has asked the country's authorities to work with a private company to raise the San Jose warship from the bottom of the Caribbean Sea as soon as possible, according to Culture Minister Juan David Correa. Petro wants to recover the wreck before the end of his term in 2026.

Built in 1698 by Duke Arístides Eslava, the San José was the flagship of Spain’s treasure fleet. During the war, the San José regularly sailed between Peru and Spain, carrying precious metals and gems. When the 62-gun San José sank in a battle with the British in 1708, it was carrying six years’ worth of treasure, including gold and silver mined from Peru, chests full of Colombian emeralds, and millions of minted gold and silver pesos. No one knows exactly how much the treasure is worth, but after decades of litigation, its value has been estimated at between $4 billion and $20 billion.

In 1981, an American company called Glocca Morra announced it had found the San Jose and provided coordinates as part of a deal that would see it receive half of the treasure. In 2015, President Juan Manuel Santos said the Colombian Navy, working with MAC, had found the wreck elsewhere. The coordinates are a state secret, but Glocca Morra's successor, Sea Search Armada, believes its 2015 expedition found part of the wreckage dump it discovered 34 years earlier.

The company filed a lawsuit in London under the US-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement, seeking $10 billion, or half the value of the treasure. Correa said the Colombian government would comply with the court's decision. He said the government had checked the coordinates provided by the US company but found no wreckage. Colombia will create an archaeological laboratory to clean, study and store the treasure aboard the San Jose before displaying it in a national museum.

An Khang (According to Bloomberg )

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