It is a treasure of incalculable value. It was carried by the galleon San José when it sank more than 300 years ago. And it will see the light for the first time. The treasure of the San José galleon is a priority of the Colombian government. The government announced this week a “high-level” operation “with innovative technology” in deep waters. They will rescue parts of the shipwreck, one of the most sought-after lost treasures in the world.

Gold and precious stones
The galleon San José was a Spanish vessel 40 meters long. She was shipwrecked in the 1708 Battle of Barú near the city of Cartagena, Colombia.
In 2015 the Colombian State found the wreck 600 meters deep. The then president Juan Manuel Santos said: “It is one of the largest finds of submerged heritage, if not the largest in the history of humanity.”
The galleon has tons of merchandise, gold, silver and precious stones. An American treasure hunting company values the treasure at about $20 billion. It has not yet been confirmed first-hand at the site of the shipwreck.
The exploration will be carried out between April and May 2024, with a remotely operated robot of Swedish design and British manufacture. He will descend to the galleon and recover some pieces. They want to observe how those pieces react when they come out of the water. They are materials that are very vulnerable, because they have been subjected to very significant pressures for 300 years.
The pieces will be studied in a laboratory in Cartagena and, in the medium term, the construction of a museum is contemplated. The robot that will descend to the galleon will be operated from the ARC Caribe. She is a ship that the Colombian State bought from a Chinese shipyard in 2017 for US$13 million.

Controversies
Since the wreck was found, the coordinates of the galleon have been a secret of the Colombian State. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague formally initiated international litigation between Colombia and Sea Search Armada, an American company, over the galleon.
Sea Search Armada says it found the wreck before Colombia. He claims US$10 billion, which in his calculations corresponds to half the value of the galleon. The Colombian defense described this claim as “grotesque” and “frivolous.” He stated that “the coordinates given by the plaintiff are not the coordinates where the galleon is.”
Colombian laws say that the galleon is “inalienable, imprescriptible and cannot be seized.” But that has not prevented disputes about who owns it since its discovery.
The treasure of the San José galleon is also sought by Spain. They claim that the galleon is a state ship. Apparently, this dispute has been going on for a while.