Controversy resurfaces in Colombia over treasure-filled San José shipwreck

The Spanish galleon San José, carrying gold, silver, and emeralds, sank off Colombia in 1708 after being destroyed by the British during the War of the Spanish Succession, killing nearly 600 people and sending its cargo more than 600 meters to the seabed. After Colombia announced the wreck’s discovery in 2015, disputes intensified, and the oversight group Veeduría Nacional para el Control Social del Patrimonio Cultural Sumergido de Colombia (VNPCS) alleged in a recent open letter to Colombia’s attorney general that there has been a lack of transparency, including alleged looting and unauthorized interventions in 2016 and 2022 and disclosure of the site’s secret coordinates. VNPCS director Francisco Muñoz Atuesta said the group’s legal actions helped secure the wreck’s designation as a cultural interest site in 2020, banning private involvement, while in 2024 it was designated a protected archaeological area under the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History (ICANH). Competing claims persist, including from US salvage company Sea Search Armada, which says it found the wreck in the early 1980s and is seeking $10 billion—what it claims is half the cargo’s value—while Swiss firm Maritime Archaeology Consultants (MAC), which helped locate the ship in 2015, is seeking compensation.

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