Spanish Galleon: The Most Valuable Treasure on the Planet

A Spanish galleon described as the "Holy Grail of shipwrecks" has been found at the bottom of the Caribbean Sea, more than 300 years after it sank, carrying treasure valued at $17 billion dollars - the most valuable cargo on the planet.

The San José sank in battle off the coast of Colombia in 1708, taking its haul of emeralds, gold and silver to the ocean bed, where it remained undisturbed for the next three centuries. It took an autonomous underwater robot, the state-of-the-art Remus 6000, to finally locate the wreckage.

History of the San José

The mighty 64-gun, three-mast galleon was the pride of the Spanish Navy from its first voyage in 1698. It had been designed by Francisco Garrote and constructed by Pedro de Aróstegui at the Mapil shipyard in Usurbil, where all the Spanish Navy vessels were produced.

As part of the Spanish treasure fleet (also known as the West Indies Fleet), the San José was one of a number of ships operated by Spain between 1566 and 1790. They linked Spain with its territories across the Atlantic and the San José became the leading galleon in the early 18th century.

Under the command of General José Fernández de Santillán, it sailed as the treasure fleet's flagship from Portobelo, Panama, leading three Spanish warships and 14 merchant vessels.

On the way to its destination of Cartagena, in Colombia, the convoy of ships encountered a British convoy led by Charles Wager on 8th June 1708, near Barú.

The ships were hostile towards one another, as the encounter occurred during the War of the Spanish Succession, when Spain, France and Bavaria were at war with Britain, the Dutch Republic, the Kingdom of Portugal and other sovereignties.

The two convoys exchanged fire, leading to a battle that became known as Wager's Action. The powder kegs on the San José detonated, sinking the ship and killing most of the crew.

Precious emeralds, jewellery, silver and gold had been on their way from Spain's South American colonies to finance the nation's war effort, but they went down with the ship. There were 600 crew members on board, 589 of which lost their lives.

Finding the wreck

Due to the value of the cargo onboard, the shipwreck was arguably the world's greatest maritime mystery. Although it was known to have sunk somewhere in a large area of ocean off Colombia’s Barú peninsula, near Cartagena, its exact location was unknown.

The galleon was finally found using the autonomous underwater vehicle supplied by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Details of the amazing find were not announced when the galleon was first discovered in 2015, at the request of the Colombian government. Its exact location has still not been revealed due to the threat of treasure-hunters.

Vice-president of WHOI's marine operations, Rob Munier, said they had agreed to the veil of secrecy out of respect for the Colombian government. The US-based agency had joined the search efforts due to its expertise in the field of deepwater exploration.

The Remus 6000 found the San José 600 metres down. Operators used sonar images to find the galleon after the Remus took photographs from nine metres above the wreck. Photos captured the distinctive dolphin design engraved on the ship's cannons, which provided visual evidence that the San José had indeed been found.

The galleon was partly covered in sediment, but the camera images enabled it to be identified, as the resolution was clear enough to recognise the carvings. Gold, silver and precious jewels on the ship are described as the "most valuable treasure in the history of humanity".

When it was finally revealed the galleon had been found, the United Nations' cultural agency Unesco urged the Colombian government not to exploit the find for commercial gain. Colombia hasn't signed the UN Convention, the Law of the Sea, so it does not have to adhere to the international standards that would require Unesco to be informed of the plans for the wreck.



Legal wrangle

Since it was announced the wreckage had been located, there has been an ongoing legal wrangle over who is likely to profit from the ship's cargo. As it was a Spanish vessel that sank in the Caribbean, the legal battle has dragged on and on, serving only to enhance the intrigue that surrounds the ship and its multi-billion-pound cargo beneath the sea.

On Friday 20th July, it was claimed that the Colombian government was going to announce the identity of the companies who would be eligible to recover the vessel during the next week. The Colombian government is also expected to win the right to a large portion of the San José’s treasure.

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