The “Holy Grail of shipwrecks” is to be lifted from the ground of the Caribbean Sea on the orders of the Colombian authorities.
The Spanish galleon San Jose, which sank greater than 300 years in the past, is believed to have been carrying 200 tons of treasure, together with gold, silver and emeralds.
Colombia President Gustavo Petro desires the restoration of the shipwreck to be one of many “priorities” of his administration earlier than his time period ends in 2026.
Tradition minister Juan David Correa instructed Bloomberg: “The president has instructed us to select up the tempo.”
The promise to lift the shipwreck comes amid an ongoing dispute over who owns the treasure, which is claimed to be price between £3.2bn and £16bn.
Claims to its fortune have additionally been made by Spain and by Bolivia’s indigenous Qhara Qhara nation, which claims the Spanish extracted the wealth from its individuals.
A salvage firm has additionally claimed to have first found the wreck in 1981.
The Spanish flagship was present in 2015 by the Colombian navy, close to the port of Cartagena off the nation’s coast with the Caribbean.
Maritime specialists take into account the vessel to be the “Holy Grail of shipwrecks” as they consider it additionally holds historic significance which may give extra info on the political, social and financial local weather within the early 1700s.
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British Royal Navy vessels sank the San Jose on 8 June 1708 in the course of the Battle Of The Spanish Succession and its exact location remained unknown for round three centuries.
The three-mast 64-gun vessel, which had 600 crew members, might be raised to the floor by way of a public-private partnership, in keeping with the Colombian authorities.
Its bounty is claimed to additionally embody intact Chinese language porcelain, pottery and cannons.