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Archaeologists and historians have condemned the effort, arguing that disturbing the ship would do more harm than good. Multiple parties, including Colombia and Spain, have laid claim to the San Jos\u00e9 and its contents. Indigenous groups and local descendants of Afro-Caribbean communities argue they are entitled to reparations because their ancestors mined the treasure.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the largest, most enduring conflict is in the hands of an international arbiter in London.<\/p>\n
The matter has been entangled in a legal process since 1981, when a search group called Glocca Morra claimed to have found the San Jos\u00e9. According to court documents, the group handed over the coordinates to the Colombian government with the understanding that it was entitled to half of the treasure.<\/p>\n
Among other discoveries were wood objects, according to court documents. Carbon dating indicated that the wood was likely 300 years old.<\/p>\n
With shifting Colombian laws, Glocca Morra has found itself defending its right to the treasure for decades. The conflict deepened in 2015, when the Colombian government said it had found the shipwreck at a different location, one that Glocca Morra\u2019s new owners, Sea Search Armada, argue is within a mile or two of their own coordinates.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Sea Search Armada, a group of American investors, is challenging a 2020 law change that \u201cunilaterally converted everything on the ship to government property,\u201d Rahim Moloo, a lawyer representing the group, said in a statement. If Colombia \u201cwants to keep everything on the San Jos\u00e9 for itself,\u201d he said, \u201cit can do so, but it has to compensate our clients for having found it in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The group is asking for what it estimates to be $10 billion worth of treasure.<\/p>\n
What exactly lies beneath is still a bit of a mystery.<\/p>\n
For clues, historians have looked to the San Jos\u00e9\u2019s sister ship, the San Joaqu\u00edn, which was sailing alongside the San Jos\u00e9 when it went down. The San Joaqu\u00edn left Spain with about 17 tons of coins from Peru, among other items.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do not know how the materials survive after three centuries of being submerged in the water,\u201d Mr. Correa, the culture minister, said, adding that the government would assess a few pieces at first before proceeding with a full excavation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are pieces of great cultural importance that can give us an account of our colonial past,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are going to do it as quickly as possible following the president\u2019s order, but also as professionally and technically as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Because the shipwreck is so deep, at least several hundred meters below the surface, \u201chuman life can\u2019t get there,\u201d Mr. Correa said. Any kind of retrieval would require underwater submersibles or robotics.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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But Ricardo Borrero, a nautical archaeologist in Bogot\u00e1 who has written a forthcoming paper on the San Jos\u00e9, said any kind of disturbance would be \u201cill-advised\u201d and intrusive, with more risk than reward.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe shipwreck lies there because it has reached equilibrium with the environment,\u201d he said. \u201cMaterials have been under these conditions for 300 years and there is no better way for them to be resting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Borrero said an examination of the San Jos\u00e9\u2019s path, estimation of its speed and barometric charts of the area point to the ship lying anywhere between 200 and 700 meters below the surface. But images taken on various government dives show life among the wreckage, including fish, suggesting that light is able to penetrate at a depth where photosynthesis can occur.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n