Colombia responds to $10 billion sunken treasure claim

A ‘smoking gun’ has emerged in a multi-billion dollar finders keepers battle over the “biggest treasure in the history of humanity”.

A drawn-out international case of finders keepers is drawing to a close, and the stakes have never been higher.

Colombia last week revealed it has a damning smoking gun in a multi-billion dollar legal battle over who rightfully owns the bounty entombed in the “Holy Grail of shipwrecks”, which has been valued as high as US$20 billion.

The Spanish galleon San José was owned by Spain’s crown when she was sunk by the British navy off Colombia’s Cartagena in 1708. Only a handful of her 600-strong crew survived.

The galleon had been heading back from the New World (the Modern-day Americas) to the court of King Philip V of Spain, bearing chests of emeralds and some 11 million gold and silver coins.

San José and her treasure have sat 600 metres deep ever since, with the location a closely-guarded state secret.

Colombia officially announced the discovery in 2015.

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San José sank off Colombia’s Caribbean coast more than three centuries ago. Picture: Supplied

Since her discovery, several parties have tried to seize ownership of the valuable booty.

Spain had laid claim to the ship and her contents under a UN convention Colombia was not party to.

Indigenous Qhara Qhara Bolivians claim the riches were stolen from them by the Spanish, who forced them to mine the precious metals.

Bolivia’s Indigenous people have expressed a concession of sorts, stating they are willing to work with Columbia in return for only a few pieces from the San José.

“Not only for the symbolic issue but more for the spiritual issue,” Qhara Qhara leader Samuel Flores told AFP in 2023.

“We just want our ancestors to be at peace.”

But two leading players are looking to claim it all in a lengthy court battle.

US-based salvage company Sea Search Armada insists it found her first more than 40 years ago and has taken Colombia to the UN’s Permanent Court of Arbitration, seeking US$10 billion.

Colombia declared a ‘protected archaeological area’ around a sunken Spanish galleon, San José, laden with gold, silver, and emeralds. Picture: AFP

According to a Colombian government filing, the San José carried “the biggest treasure in the history of humanity”.

Sea Search Armada claims it discovered the wreck in 1981 and estimates the value of her bounty is worth between US$4 billion and US$20 billion.

The salvager asserts it handed over the coordinates of the wreck to Colombia under an agreement for a 50 per cent share.

Rahim Moloo, a lawyer representing the group, said in a 2023 statement that Sea Search Armada must also contend with a 2020 law change that “unilaterally converted everything on the ship to government property”.

He said if Colombia “wants to keep everything on the San José for itself,” then “it can do so, but it has to compensate our clients for having found it in the first place”.

However, Colombia disputes these claims, arguing that no shipwreck was found at the provided coordinates and that the company never explicitly reported finding the San José.

This week, Colombia expanded on its legal case with specific details alleging how far off the mark the US salvagers were.

The ship sunk with untold riches onboard. Picture: AFP

Speaking to The Bogotá Post last week, lawyer Yebrail Haddad from ANDJE, a government agency tasked with leading the legal defences of the State, sought to torpedo SSA’s claims releasing new research informing their case.

“According to all the technical tests carried out, SSA never discovered the galleon San José, nor any other shipwreck,” Mr Haddad said.

Colombia commissioned research by numerous maritime experts, including Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution – the US’ largest independent oceanographic research institution – paying them US$1.4 million for the study.

It found the coordinates provided by the SSA in 1982 were 10 kilometres from the San José galleon’s real location.

The treasure-laden galleon has been a subject of dispute and claims by various parties. Picture: AFP

Mr Haddad hoped the findings would persuade the court, stating Colombia would not settle with the US company.

“For the government, a financial agreement with SSA is not an option,” he said.

The court’s decision was drawn from a decision expected in 2024 but has since been drawn out to late 2025.

Early last year, Colombia declared a “protected archaeological area” around the spot where a Spanish galleon sank.

The designation “guarantees the protection of heritage” through the ship’s “long-term preservation and the development of research, conservation and valuation activities” according to the nation’s culture ministry.

Despite the untold riches entombed inside the wreck, Culture Minister Juan David Correa insisted at the time: “This is not a treasure. We do not treat it as such.”

Originally published as Colombia responds to $10 billion sunken treasure claim