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Colombian scientists have successfully retrieved a cannon, three coins, and a porcelain cup from the Caribbean Sea, where the legendary Spanish galleon, San José, met its fate in 1708 after an attack by an English fleet, officials revealed on Thursday.
This recovery effort is part of a broader scientific investigation sanctioned by the government last year to explore the wreckage and uncover the reasons behind the ship’s sinking.
The galleon was initially discovered by Colombian researchers in 2015, igniting a series of legal and diplomatic challenges. The precise location of the wreck remains a closely guarded state secret.
It is believed that the ship harbors a treasure trove of 11 million gold and silver coins, along with emeralds and other valuable items from Spanish colonies, potentially worth billions if salvaged.
President Gustavo Petro’s administration has emphasized that the expedition’s main goal is scientific research, not claiming the ship’s treasures.
Colombia’s culture ministry said in a statement Thursday that the cannon, coins and porcelain cup will undergo a conservation process at a lab dedicated to the expedition.
The wreckage is almost 2,000 feet deep in the sea.
The prevailing theory has been that an explosion caused the 62-gun, three-masted galleon to sink after being ambushed by an English squadron.
But Colombia’s government has suggested that it could have sunk for other reasons, including damage to the hull.
The ship has been the subject of a legal battle in the United States, Colombia and Spain over who owns the rights to the sunken treasure.
Colombia is in arbitration litigation with Sea Search Armada, a group of US investors, for the economic rights of the San José.
The firm claims $10 billion corresponding to what they assume is worth 50% of the galleon treasure that they claim to have discovered in 1982.