An ancient ship, San Jose, has been found off Colombia’s Baru peninsula and it should have amongst the wreck a bounty the likes of which have never been seen before.

The San Jose has been dubbed ‘the holy grail of shipwrecks’, which is exactly why finding the ship has been met with such fanfare in the South American country. President Juan Manuel Santos officially announced the finding on Saturday, holding a press conference included in that video below.

A bit of background on the San Jose from Vice:

The San Jose was lost in a legendary naval confrontation between the British and Spanish fleets, known as Wager’s Action. The ship was one of three treasure ships loaded up with riches gathered from South America, and was heading back to Spain to deliver the goods to help fund the War of Spanish Succession.

But a nearby British squadron, commanded by Charles Wager, was not about to let them through without a fight. Some of the fleet escaped, but the British warship Expedition relentlessly attacked the San Jose until it exploded in flames. Only 11 of the roughly 600 passengers survived the blast and the sinking of the galleon…

Treasure hunters have been searching for this motherlode of a shipwreck ever since, and indeed, there is already a longstanding legal battle over what entities have the right to salvage it. The American maritime salvage firm Sea Search Armada (SSA) claimed that it had discovered the area in which the San Jose sank in 1981, and has been pushing to split 50 percent of any recovered loot with the Colombian government according to the nation’s maritime laws at the time.

To be fair I think Colombia could probably use the dosh a little more than America. Let’s just hope they can bring these treasures to the surface, I don’t care who takes home the bounty.

[source:vice]