BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) – The Colombian government on Friday set out to explore the legendary galleon San José, which sank in the 18th century in the northern Caribbean and is believed to be carrying billions of dollars worth of cargo. announced a deep-sea exploration plan.
This is the first step in a deep-sea scientific study aimed at gathering information to determine which debris is suitable and extractable. The wreckage lies in the ocean at a depth of 600 meters.
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Colombia identified the galleon’s location in 2015, but it has since been embroiled in legal and diplomatic disputes, and its exact location is a state secret.
The Colombian government has announced that it will invest about $4.5 million this year in an archaeological survey of the 62-gun, three-masted galleon, which sank in 1708 after being ambushed by a British squadron en route to Cartagena.
The Colombian government announced on Friday, February 23, 2024, that objects from the mythical galleon San José, which sank in the country’s northern Caribbean Sea in the 18th century and are believed to be carrying billions of dollars worth of cargo announced an underwater exploration to explore.
At a symposium on the galleon held Friday in Cartagena, Argena Caicedo Fernández, director of the Colombian Institute of Archeology and History (ICANH), said the Colombian government would not partner with private companies in the first phase of the investigation. Ta.
The expedition is expected to begin in the spring, depending on weather conditions.
Rear Admiral and Oceanographer Hermann Leon Rincon told reporters that the expedition involves submerging a robotic device connected to a Navy ship. From there, cameras will be used to record its movements in detail, and the robot will be placed in conjunction with a satellite in geostationary orbit, he said.
The robotic system, acquired by Colombia in 2021, is capable of descending to depths of up to 1,500 meters (4,900 feet).
Carlos Reyna Martínez, an archaeologist and submerged cultural heritage leader at ICANN, said the work was aimed at discovering what life was like for the 600 people on board the ship when it sank. , said its purpose was to study daily life, cargo, artillery, and merchandise. American colonial era.
Colombia’s Minister of Culture, Juan David Correa, said, “The time has come to claim the galleon wreck as a heritage element that should be valued.” The value of the shipwreck is both property and monetary. argued that it was not. “History is a treasure.”
The ship is the subject of a legal battle in the United States, Colombia and Spain over who owns the rights to the sunken treasure.
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The Colombian government announced on Thursday that it had officially begun an arbitration case with US investor group Sea Search Armada over economic rights to the San José. The company is claiming $10 billion, an amount thought to represent 50% of the galleon treasure it claims to have discovered in 1982.
The ship is believed to be carrying 11 million gold, silver coins, emeralds and other valuable cargo from the Spanish-controlled colonies, which could be worth billions of dollars if recovered. There is a possibility.
