San Jose galleon: Treasure hunters confirm Columbia location of fabled wreck with $30 billion cargo

Treasure hunters, historians and storytellers around the world are salivating, following the news that the location of a sunken wreck holding one of the greatest gold and jewel deposits in history has finally been confirmed.

The legend of the Spanish galleon San Jose has been mentioned throughout history as countless groups of fortune hunters tried to locate the ship and its reported $30 billion golden cargo.

Researchers using cutting-edge technology to comb the ocean floor in waters near Colombia have announced that they are confident they have confirmed the ship’s location nearly 300 years after it sank during a fierce battle with the UK Royal Navy.

Imagery obtained during the search for the ‘Holy Grail’ of treasure, identified coins and artifacts consistent with the cargo reportedly on board the San Jose before it met its fate at the bottom of the Caribbean sea.

A recent study published in the Antiquity Journal announced that the wreck is situated at a depth of 600m on the ocean floor off Colombia.

Since 2021, the Colombian Navy has been using a Lynx Saab Seaeye Remotely Operated Vehicle to locate the remains under conditions of low visibility and minimal light.

The investigations have provided the strongest evidence yet that the wreckage discovered in 2015 is indeed the fabled vessel.

Gold, silver and emeralds from Spain’s South American colonies have been identified through high-resolution images captured while examining the wreck at the perilous depth.

“Hand-struck, irregularly shaped coins served as the primary currency in the Americas for more than two centuries,” archaeologist Daniela Vargas Ariza, of Colombia’s Naval Cadet School and the National Institute of Anthropology and History told GBN.

“The finding of cobs created in 1707 at the Lima Mint points to a vessel navigating the Tierra Firme route in the early 18th century. The San Jose galleon is the only ship that matches these characteristics.”

Countries in the region have been trying to lay claim to the treasure-laden wreck for years with Colombia, Spain and Peru all arguing the fortune should fall into their hands once it is raised.

A treasure hunting firm from the US, Sea Search Armada, is demanding $13 billion, claiming it discovered the wreck in 1981 after stating the wreck lay within a few kilometres of the 2015 site.

The company is contesting a 2020 Colombian law declaring everything aboard the galleon belongs to the Colombian government.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced in 2023 that the wreck would be raised before his term ends in 2026.