Centuries-Old Shipwrecks Found Near Colombia Carrying Treasure That Could Be Worth Billions
Crews have stumbled upon two never-before-seen shipwrecks while assessing a famous 16th century shipwreck off the Colombian coast, according to officials.
The discovery was made while the Colombian Navy and the General Maritime Directorate conducted a "non-intrusive expedition" of the San José galleon near the country's Caribbean port of Cartagena, according to a news release published in Spanish by the Navy on Monday.
Colombian President Iván Duque Márquez, who confirmed the discovery in a speech on Monday, said one of the vessels is believed to be from the Colonial period, while the other seems to be the Republican period of the country's history, per a preliminary analysis.
The two new wrecks, which had not been previously reported, "add to the historical heritage context of the Colombian Caribbean," the Colombian Navy said.
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The General Maritime Directorate teamed with Colombian Navy to conduct observations around the site where the San José galleon sat for the last two years, per Monday's release.
Video of the shipwreck shared by Colombian Minister of Defense Diego Molano Aponte shows various items scattered across the ocean floor, including gold coins, cannons, pottery, and intricately-designed teacups. The clip also shows larger pieces of the ship — like the bow, which appears to still be partially intact — strewn around the site.
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The Colombian Navy said in its release that the wreck "has not suffered intervention or alterations by human action."
What's more — some historians believe the artifacts found there could be worth billions of dollars, according to NBC News and Reuters.
Colombia Armada
"This is one more demonstration of the work of our Navy men and women, always protecting the Nation's maritime interests and the country's sovereignty," Aponte wrote on Twitter alongside footage of the expedition.
The San José galleon was sunk by the British in 1708, according to the BBC. In Dec. 2015, President Juan Manuel Santos announced that the wreck had been discovered at the bottom of the Caribbean Sea.
Marta Lucía Ramírez, Vice President and Chancellor of the Submerged Cultural Heritage of Colombia, said in a February press release that the San José galleon had been declared "an archaeological, cultural and historical heritage," which she said "are invaluable for what they represent" in history.
"Likewise, we will do it with any of the boats that are in the area, so that when they are extracted, they will be in a museum of shipwrecked species, which will be a source of pride for Colombia, the Caribbean and the world," Ramírez said in the Spanish-language release.
She later added, "Submerged heritage is invaluable, hence the responsibility to protect it until it can be extracted, contributing to the history of Colombia, the Caribbean and the world."
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Ownership of the shipwreck remains under legal review, according to the BBC. Spain has claimed it is a "ship of state" as it was under the country's control when it was sunk, citing United Nations rules.
However, Santos said in 2015 that items found at the scene of the wreck would eventually go in a museum to be built in Cartagena.
