Researchers have confirmed the existence of a 300-year-old Spanish galleon dubbed the “Holy Grail of shipwrecks”, sparking a multi-billion-pound legal battle over its ownership.
The San José — which is laden with gold, silver and emeralds — is estimated to be worth around £16 billion.
It is understood to have been identified through underwater images and recovered from a site near Baru Island, off Cartagena, Colombia, a decade ago.
The findings, which was published in the scientific journal Antiquity on Tuesday, provides the strongest evidence yet that the wreckage discovered is indeed the 18th century vessel.
The San José was transporting treasure from Portobelo in Panama at the height of the War of the Spanish Succession.
But it was intercepted by a British squadron led by Sir Charles Wager, who later became First Lord of the Admiralty.
During the fierce battle, the San José’s powder magazines detonated, sending it, its valuable cargo and nearly 600 sailors 2,000 ft beneath the Caribbean Ocean.
The War of the Spanish Succession concluded with the British Empire taking control of Gibraltar, as well as Newfoundland and Nova Scotia in Canada.
The San José’ was presumed lost forever until 2015 when South American researchers used underwater drones to capture images of the wreckage on the seabed.
Photographs show silver coins minted in 1707, as well as Chinese porcelain from the Kangxi period, which experts believe point to the San José.
"This body of evidence substantiates the identification of the wreck as the San José Galleon, a hypothesis that has been put forward since its initial discovery in 2015," said Daniela Vargas Ariza, of Colombia's Naval Cadet School and the National Institute of Anthropology and History.
However, the discovery has sparked a heated dispute over who should claim the treasure.
Colombia, Spain and Peru, as well as indigenous communities and descendants of Peruvian miners, are all vying for ownership.
American treasure hunters Sea Search Armada is demanding nearly £8 billion, claiming it discovered the wreck in 1981 and that the current find is within "a mile or two" of its original coordinates.
In 2023, Colombian president Gustavo Petro announced that the wreck would be raised before his term ends in 2026.
