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Fierce battle for "the sunken ship with the greatest treasure in human history"

2024-10-05 23:00:15Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Fierce battle for "the sunken ship with the greatest treasure in human
Three countries in the running for the "Holy Grail of Shipwrecks"

The Spanish galleon "San José", called the most valuable ship in the world, was sunk by the British off the coast of Colombia more than 300 years ago. She was carrying an estimated $18 billion worth of gold, silver and emeralds, and heated debate over who actually owns the treasure in question and what should be done with the wreckage continues to this day.

The right to the ship is also claimed by Spain and Colombia, as well as an American salvage company, but also by indigenous groups in South America. After court battles in Colombia and the US, the case has now ended up before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

The Colombian government wants to display the remains of the ship in a museum, but archaeologists believe the wreckage should be left where it is. Maritime historians say that the "San José" is a graveyard (about 600 people died in the sinking) and should be respected as such.

"I don't see an easy way out of this mess. The Spanish state, the Colombian government, various indigenous groups, treasure hunters... I don't think there is a solution that satisfies all parties," said Carla Rahn Phillips, a historian and author of a book on San José.

The ship in question sank in 1708 while sailing from present-day Panama to the port city of Cartagena in Colombia. From there he had to cross the Atlantic to Spain. But it was captured by a British warship. The British, who were then at war with the Spanish, actually wanted to capture the ship and its treasure, but mistakenly fired a cannon and hit the ship's gunpowder store. It exploded and sank in just a few minutes, writes the BBC .

The ship lay on the seabed until the 1980s, when it was found by an American salvage company, Glocca Mora. They tried to persuade the Colombians to enter into a partnership to collect the treasure and share the profits, but they could not agree on the division of shares and the case ended up in court.

To make matters even more complicated, in 2015 the Colombians claimed to have found the ship in another part of the seabed and believed that the Glocca Mora, now known as the Sea Research Armada, has no claim to or for her treasure, which includes 116 steel chests full of emeralds and 30 million gold coins.

And then there's Spain, which believes the San José and its cargo should remain state property, while indigenous groups from Bolivia and Peru say they too are entitled to at least a share of the spoils. They, in turn, claim that during the colonial period, the Spanish stole the treasure from the mines in the Andes.

"That wealth came from the Potosi mine in the highlands of Bolivia and belongs to our people. That's why we think it should be raised from the bottom of the sea and prevent treasure hunters from stealing it," says Samuel Flores, a representative of Qhara, whose people belong to one of the indigenous groups.

Rahim Moloo, a lawyer representing the Sea Search Armada, described the sunken ship's cargo as "the greatest treasure in human history".

The "San José", which is also called the "Holy Grail of shipwrecks", is just one of about three million sunken ships at the bottom of the ocean. It is often unclear who owns them, who has the right to explore them and – if there was treasure on board – who has the right to keep it.

In 1982, the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Law of the Sea, referred to as the "Constitution of the Oceans", but it says very little about shipwrecks. This is why the UN adopted another set of rules in 2001, the UNESCO Convention on the Underwater Cultural Heritage. But many countries refused to ratify it, including Colombia and the US.

"I am afraid that international law does not have clear answers. For many archaeologists, wrecks like the San José should be left alone and explored 'in situ', at the bottom of the ocean,” said Michail Risvas, a lawyer at the University of Southampton in the UK and an expert on international arbitration and maritime disputes.

Juan Guillermo Martín, a Colombian marine archaeologist who has closely followed the San José case, also believes the wreckage should remain at the bottom of the sea, along with the human remains of some 600 crew members.

"The treasure is part of the archaeological context and as such has no commercial value. Its value is strictly scientific", he concluded.


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