Treasure hunting

(TOP BANNER IMAGE: Samuel Scott / Wikimedia / public domain)

The San José, a three-decked galleon approximately 150ft long and armed with 64 guns, sank during a battle with British ships in 1708. It is believed to contain 11 million gold and silver coins, emeralds and other precious cargo from Spanish colonies. Researchers have identified bronze cannons, ceramic and porcelain vases, and personal weapons among the artefacts, confirming the wreck’s identity.

The Nuestra Señora de las Maravillas (Our Lady of Wonders) sank with a cargo of gold, silver, and gems on the western side of the Little Bahama Bank in 1656. The Spanish galleon was part of a fleet sailing to Spain from Havana with royal and privately-consigned treasures from the Americas. Failing to navigate shallow waters, however, it collided with the flagship of the fleet and hit a reef. Of the 650 people on board, only 45 survived.

After the recent elaborate diving expedition at a depth of 950 meters (3,117 feet), the Colombian Navy has published new footage of the legendary ship and its treasures.

Earlier that summer, the government of Spain successfully argued that, under the terms of international Sovereign Immunity, it never abandoned or otherwise relinquished its ownership of the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, which sunk during a sea battle with the British Navy in 1804. At the time of its loss, the Mercedes was sailing back to Spain from South America.

Odyssey has said that it will appeal Judge Pizzo’s ruling and will “vigorously defend” its right to the treasure. The 500,000 plus coins remain under lock and key in the company’s warehouse.

The San Jose was carrying gold, silver, gems and jewellery collected in the South American colonies to be shipped to Spain's king to help finance his war of succession against the British when it was sunk in June 1708 during heavy fighting off the coast of Cartagena. In the fighting the vessel was reported to have exploded, with most of its crew killed.

SS Central America, known as the Ship of Gold, was a 280-foot (85 m) sidewheel steamer which sank in a hurricane off the coast of the Carolinas in September 1857, along with more than 420 passengers and crew and 14 tonnes of gold with an estimated value of $300 million on today's market.

With so much money on the line, ownership of the loot has been entrenched in legal battles ever since its discovery by Columbus-America Discovery Group in 1989.

Captain Kidd was executed in 1701 for piracy after returning from a voyage to the Indian Ocean. Legend had it that Kidd hid much of his loot, which has prompted numerous treasure hunts around the world and inspired Robert Louis Stevenson when he wrote Treasure Island.

Captain Dan Porter and dive partner Bobby Hartwell were working at a depth of about 20 feet, in an area where Porter and his crew had already uncovered 17th century ceramic pieces, a musket ball, and a scattering of large ballast stones. Weather conditions had deteriorated throughout the day and by afternoon “were so rough that the current was running straight up the boat’s stern and had exerted enough force to break the vessels bow line,” said Porter.

Sea Hunters, L.P., a division of the Portland Maine based shipwreck research and recovery company Sub Sea Research, embark to recover of one of the world's wealthiest wrecks.

Update

It was reported that the wreck of the Port Nicholson was discovered in 2008 by Greg Brooks, of the American company Sub Sea Research, but the discovery was kept secret until February 2012.

Brooks initially claimed to be investigating an unidentified vessel, codenamed Blue Baron, that lay off the coast of Guyana in South America.