Colombia announced that a valuable treasure from a famous shipwreck, deemed to be of immeasurable worth, will be retrieved by a submarine robot.
17th-century galleon San Jose,
On Friday, the government of Colombia declared a mission to extract objects of immeasurable worth from the sunken remains of the renowned 17th-century ship San Jose.San Jose galleon
The vessel, which went down in the year 1708 carrying a valuable cargo of gold, silver, and emeralds believed to be worth billions of dollars, is known as the 316-year-old sunken ship.
The ultimate shipwreck
The discovery has sparked controversy due to its dual significance as both an archaeological and economic treasure.
80-year-old
museum was
The 80-year-old museum has been open for over eight years, according to statements by Culture Minister Juan David Correa to AFP.
finding the sunken ship’s remains
A subaquatic robot will be deployed to retrieve a portion of the treasure located off the coast of Colombia.
In April and May, Correa stated that the robot would retrieve certain items from “the surface of the galleon” in order to observe how they appear once removed from the water and to determine potential methods for recovering the remaining treasures.
told Live Science.
The vessel was returning from the New World to the palace of King Philip V of Spain, carrying valuable treasures including chests full of emeralds and approximately 200 tons of gold coins.
Before Colombia
revealed the finding in 2015
For a long time, it was highly coveted by individuals in search of treasure.
It’s as though we were living during the colonial era.
The unearthing of the ship led to a battle for possession of its treasures.
Spain claims ownership of the bounty as it was on a Spanish ship, but the Qhara Qhara nation of Bolivia argues that they should receive the treasures since the Spanish coerced their people into mining the valuable metals.
LUIS ACOSTA/AFP via Getty Images
From Thursday onward, a symposium has been held with experts and attended by Spain’s ambassador to Colombia, Joaquin de Aristegui, as well as representatives from Bolivia’s Indigenous community. The main topic of discussion has been the most effective method for obtaining the treasure.
The current president, Gustavo Petro, who is a leftist, has been in office since 2022. Their administration aims to utilize the nation’s resources to salvage the wreck and guarantee its presence in Colombia.
Aristegui stated that he has been instructed to propose a “two-sided agreement” to Colombia for safeguarding the sunken vessel.
Correa stated that the Indigenous population in Bolivia has shown their readiness to collaborate with Petro’s administration.
He added that the concept is to no longer view the situation as a battle over a valuable treasure, as if we were in the era of colonialism and competing with pirates over these lands.
The journey to begin retrieving the treasures from the sunken ship coincides with an ongoing case at the United Nations’ Permanent Court of Arbitration involving Colombia and the American salvage company Sea Search Armada. The company asserts that it discovered the wreck over 40 years ago.
The corporation is requesting a payment of $10 billion, which is half of the current estimated value of the wreck.
In June of 2022, Colombia announced that a remotely operated vehicle successfully reached a depth of 900 meters below the ocean surface, demonstrating…
fresh pictures of the debris.
The footage displayed the most impressive sight yet of the riches aboard the San Jose, which included gold bars and coins, cannons crafted in Seville in 1655, and a complete Chinese dinner set.
During that period, Reuters stated that the vehicle operated from a distance also uncovered two additional sunken ships in the vicinity, one of which was believed to be a schooner from approximately two hundred years ago.
Source: cbsnews.com