VIDEO: Colombian Officials Discover Two Historic Shipwrecks, Treasure in Caribbean

Authorities in Colombia monitoring the sunken San José galleon have made an exciting discovery, President Ivan Duque announced Monday.

“The San Jose galleon, thought by historians to be carrying treasure that would be worth billions of dollars, sank in 1708 near Colombia’s Caribbean port of Cartagena,” according to Reuters.

The Spanish vessel went up in flames after a battle with the British, and by nightfall the 62-cannon galleon had sunk into the Caribbean Sea, carrying almost 600 people and the treasure, the BBC reported in 2019:

The San José galleon left Panama’s port city of Portobelo in late May 1708. It was laden with gold, silver and precious stones extracted from what was then Spanish-controlled Peru, which have been estimated to be worth between $10bn and $20bn today. The riches were destined for King Philip V of Spain, who relied on resources from his colonies to finance the War of the Spanish Succession.

A remotely operated vehicle recently captured video footage of the wreckage and during the operation spotted two additional wrecks.

Images showed treasure carried by the San José that included gold ingots, coins, and cannons dating to 1655.

In a translated social media post Monday, Duque said that, thanks to the work of the Armada Colombia, “We were able to reach a level of precision, never seen before, of the San José Galleon, keeping this world heritage site intact and protecting it for later extraction.”

In another translated post, Duque also said officials located the two other vessels, “one that is from the Colonial period and another that, according to preliminary analyses, corresponds to the Republican period of our history.”

The Armada de Colombia shared video footage Monday of what appeared to be the vehicle used for monitoring the shipwreck. Numerous artifacts were seen half-buried in the sand, including pots and jars:

“With high-tech equipment, we carry out non-intrusive observation work at the bottom of the sea where the San José Galleon rests, verifying that this world heritage site is intact and has not been altered by human action,” the Armada’s post concluded.