A vast haul of priceless silver and emerald artefacts thought to be worth as much as £15billion could be lifted from a sunken San José galleon as early as next month, officials have said.
The doomed vessel, which has been dubbed the “Holy Grail of shipwrecks”, was found by the Colombian navy in 2015, but its exact location has remained a closely guarded secret.
Recovery efforts in the Caribbean Sea have been hit with delays amid international legal wrangles over the priceless pile’s rightful owner.
Spain has claimed the bounty of stolen South American goods is theirs, as have Bolivian officials.
The country’s representatives have argued the treasures came from its indigenous nation, the Qhara Qhara, members of which were forced to mine the jewels and metals for Spanish colonists, and a US salvage firm has also made claims on some of the haul.
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Officials now say artifacts from the 18th-century vessel could start being lifted as soon as April.
The San Jose galleon sank in battle with British ships more than 300 years ago, somewhere in the wide area off Colombia’s Baru peninsula, south of Cartagena, in the Caribbean Sea.
The three-decked San Jose was reportedly 150 feet (45 metres) long, with a beam of 45 feet (14 metres) and armed with 64 guns.
Alhena Caicedo, director of the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History said: “There has been this persistent view of the galleon as a treasure trove. We want to turn the page on that. We aren’t thinking about treasure.
“We’re thinking about how to access the historical and archeological information at the site.”
Colombia has previously said that researchers found bronze cannons that are in good condition, along with ceramic and porcelain vases and personal weapons.
The researchers say that the specifications of the cannons leave no doubt that the wreck is that of the San Jose. In 2018, the United Nations cultural agency called on Colombia not to commercially exploit the wreck.
A UNESCO experts’ body protecting underwater cultural heritage previously sent a letter to Colombia expressing concern that recovering the treasure for sale rather than for its historical value “would cause the irretrievable loss of significant heritage.”
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“Allowing the commercial exploitation of Colombia’s cultural heritage goes against the best scientific standards and international ethical principles as laid down, especially in the UNESCO Underwater Cultural Heritage Convention,” the letter said.
But the country says the government has self-funded the first stage of exploration and it will not sell any of the treasures.
Speaking to The Guardian, Ann Coats, associate professor in maritime heritage at the University of Portsmouth said: “Money has always driven the story of the San José. The British wanted to capture it to deny money to Spain, and then the money onboard drove the archaeological search for the wreck.
“Then disputes got in the way of studying the ship. It would be nice if for once money wasn’t driving things and a huge cultural collaboration could take place to study it properly,” she added.
