CNN’s Michael Martinez and Alba Prifti report the Spanish San Jose galleon is found, a U.S. firm claims it told Colombia of the San Jose’s site, and the U.S. firm wants 50% of the treasure. The San Jose was the flagship and largest galleon of a Spanish fleet carrying gold and silver from the mines of Potosi, Peru. It was traveling from Portobello, Panama to Cartagena, Colombia, but the British intercepted the ship in 1708 off Cartagena and sank it. Colombia says if found the ship off of the Columbia coast in the Caribbean, with treasure estimated as high as $17 billion in gold, silver and gems. The site, unfortunately, marks the place for international dispute.
Sea Search Armada, a group of U.S. investors engaged in marine salvaging, claims it found the site of the San Jose in 1981 and contends the Colombia government has been trying “to illegally confiscate SSA’s finds.” SSA filed several lawsuits in the United States and Colombia, and the American company contends it won a Colombian Supreme Court ruling upholding how the treasure should be split 50-50 between the Columbia government and the U.S. firm, but Columbia maintains the decision to not split the treasure is in their favor and is willing to implement military force to secure the treasure. According to the BBC, when the dispute is finalized, Columbian officials plan to build a museum in Cartagena “to house the ship’s treasures.”