Colombia’s government on Friday announced an expedition to remove items of “incalculable value” from the wreck of the legendary San Jose galleon, which sank in 1708 while laden with gold, silver and emeralds estimated to be worth billions of dollars. The 316-year-old wreck, often called the “holy grail” of shipwrecks, has been controversial, because it is both an archaeological and economic treasure.

Culture Minister Juan David Correa told AFP that more than eight years after the discovery of the wreck off Colombia’s coast, an underwater robot would be sent to recover some of its bounty.

Between April and May, the robot would extract some items from “the surface of the galleon” to see “how they materialize when they come out (of the water) and to understand what we can do” to recover the rest of the treasures, said Correa.

The operation will cost more than $4.5 million and the robot will work at a depth of 600 meters to remove items such as ceramics, pieces of wood and shells “without modifying or damaging the wreck,” Correa told AFP aboard a large naval ship.

The location of the expedition is being kept secret to protect what is considered one of the greatest archaeological finds in history from malicious treasure hunters.

The San Jose galleon was owned by the Spanish crown when it was sunk by the British navy near Cartagena in 1708. Only a handful of its 600-strong crew survived.

“It makes it very touchy because one is not supposed to intervene in war graves,” Justin Leidwanger, an archaeologist at Stanford University who studies ancient shipwrecks, told Live Science. 

The ship had been heading back from the New World to the court of King Philip V of Spain, laden with treasures such as chests of emeralds and some 200 tons of gold coins.

Before Colombia announced the discovery in 2015, it was long sought after by treasure hunters.

“As if we were in colonial times”

The discovery of the galleon sparked a tug-of-war over who gets custody of its bounty.

Spain insists that the bounty is theirs since it was aboard a Spanish ship, while Bolivia’s Qhara Qhara nation says it should get the treasures as the Spanish forced the community’s people to mine the precious metals.

Since Thursday, Spain’s ambassador to Colombia Joaquin de Aristegui, and representatives of Bolivia’s Indigenous people have been taking part in a symposium with experts to discuss the best way to access the treasure.

The government of leftist president Gustavo Petro, in power since 2022, wants to use the country’s own resources to recover the wreck and ensure it remains in Colombia.

De Aristegui said he has instructions to offer Colombia a “bilateral agreement” on the protection of the wreck.

Correa said Bolivia’s Indigenous people have expressed their willingness to work with Petro’s government.

The idea is “to stop considering that we are dealing with a treasure that we have to fight for as if we were in colonial times, with the pirates who disputed these territories,” he added.

The expedition to start recovering the shipwreck’s trove comes as a case is underway at the UN’s Permanent Court of Arbitration between Colombia and the U.S.-based salvage company Sea Search Armada — which claims it found the wreck first over 40 years ago.

The company is demanding $10 billion dollars, half the wreck’s estimated value today.

In June 2022, Colombia said that a remotely operated vehicle reached 900 meters below the surface of the ocean, showing new images of the wreckage.

The video showed the best-yet view of the treasure that was aboard the San Jose — including gold ingots and coins, cannons made in Seville in 1655 and an intact Chinese dinner service.

At the time, Reuters reported the remotely operated vehicle also discovered two other shipwrecks in the area, including a schooner thought to be from about two centuries ago.