On Friday (Feb 23), the Colombian government unveiled plans to initiate an underwater exploration campaign aimed at investigating and retrieving artifacts found on a Spanish galleon that sank in the Colombian Caribbean over three centuries ago.
Officials outlined that the exploration endeavor would employ an underwater robot guided by a versatile vessel tasked with collecting data about the sunken vessel.
Culture Minister Juan David Correa stated that the robot would extract items from the exterior of the galleon to observe “how they materialize when they come out (of the water) and to understand what we can do” to recover the remaining treasures.
The vessel, known as San Jose, believed to have carried one of the largest unrecovered maritime riches, sank near the historic Caribbean port of Cartagena in 1708. The wreckage was located in 2015.
Colombia is allocating approximately $4.5 million for the scientific mission scheduled to commence in the latter half of 2024.
Sonar images have thus far unveiled weaponry, ceramics, artifacts, and specially crafted bronze cannons designed for the vessel.
Additionally, on Friday (Feb 23), the Colombian government announced it had initiated legal arbitration proceedings with the US company Sea Search Armada, LLC concerning the ship’s heritage rights.
The company is asserting a claim of $10 billion, purportedly representing 50 percent of the ship’s treasure discovered in 1982.
Correa emphasized that the scientific mission would facilitate inter-institutional collaboration aimed at training new personnel.
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