The Colombian Government has removed five objects and fragments from the wreck of the Spanish galleon Saint Josephsunk in 1708 near Cartagena de Indias and found in December 2015, as reported by the Ministry of Culture. “The pieces collected aboard Colombian Navy ships were a cannon, a porcelain cup and three macuquinas (coins), as well as two porcelain fragments and remains of sediment associated with these objects,” the ministry specified in a statement.
“This material evidence will be used to carry out archaeological studies and archaeometric analysis, that is, laboratory studies on composition that allow us to answer questions related to the research project, such as provenance, chronology and production technologies, among others, with which these findings can be confirmed,” the text reads. He Saint Josephwhich belonged to the Spanish Navy, was sunk by a fleet of English corsairs on June 8, 1708 when it was heading to Cartagena de Indias loaded, according to chronicles of the time, with nearly 11 million gold and silver coins that it had collected at the Portobelo fair (Panama).
“To select the collected archaeological objects, rigorous protocols were implemented that would allow, from the scientific relevance and technical feasibility of the Navy’s underwater robotics, to justify which are the representative inorganic materials, such as ceramics (porcelain) and metal (gold and bronze) that contribute to answering the questions of the research project,” the document specifies.
On December 5, 2015, the then Colombian president, Juan Manuel Santos, announced the discovery of the wreck, whose ownership Spain claims because it is “a state ship” with its flag, based on UNESCO regulations. The Colombian Government, for its part, declared the Saint Joseph “an asset of submerged cultural interest” and from the beginning it has invited Spain to treat the wreck as shared heritage.
The first phase of the Colombian research project explored the remains of the ship, found about 600 meters deep, and cataloged 1,138 objects in what it called a non-intrusive study of the archaeological context. “The second phase seeks to deepen the study through the direct analysis of the archaeological objects, which implies their collection to stabilize them, that is, gradually adapt them to the change from the marine to the terrestrial environment, and conserve them in optimal conditions,” the Ministry of Cultures explained.
From treasure to archaeological heritage
With the removal of these pieces from the bottom of the seabed, the Government of Gustavo Petro achieves one of the objectives that had been set regarding the investigation of the galleon. The extraction is a scientific test that will now allow us to analyze how objects react on the surface, after having been under the sea for more than three centuries.
Colombia has declared that it seeks to extract, “without modifying”, some of the objects that are in the bed, as stated since 2024 by the Ministry of Culture, in charge of managing the cultural heritage of the South American nation. The medium-term objective, as the institution has officially said, is to lay the institutional, legal and scientific foundations for the country to become an underwater research power. The task of removing pieces from this ship has even been classified as the largest underwater archeology mission in the recent history of Latin America.
However, part of the scientific community has been critical of the left-wing Executive’s position, as it advocates not intervening at the site at all. Several experts, supported by the UNESCO Convention for the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage, have argued that if the galleon and its treasures are understood as an archaeological heritage and not as loot, then the extraction of objects is not necessary, since the most important academic questions, such as those that have to do with the history of maritime trade between America and Europe, or the naval battles of the time, can be resolved without excavation and increasing the risk of deterioration of the remains of the galleon. The Ministry of Culture has also advocated for a change of position in which the Saint Joseph be valued for its archaeological value, but it also contemplates the construction of a museum and an archaeological study laboratory in Cartagena de Indias.
The Lynx robot, managed by the Colombian Navy, has been a useful tool in that exploration. In 2022, it was revealed that the galleon contains almost intact Chinese tableware, a couple of gold ingots, hundreds of eight-real coins, several cannons made in Seville in 1665, swords, vessels, ceramics, suitcases and many other small treasures from the time. He also revealed that there were two new buried vessels in the same area, which increased expectations about the value of the shipwrecks, amid disputes over their ownership.
In addition to Spain’s demands, the American company Sea Search Armada has judicially claimed 10 billion dollars, which it estimates is equivalent to 50% of the value of the treasure, as it claims to have found the site of the shipwreck four decades ago. The Colombian authorities have not only responded that it is an archaeological heritage and not a treasure, but with an argument as simple as it is forceful, and that is that the location indicated by the company is wrong. The actual coordinates are kept protected as a state secret.