Photo: twitter
Crews have stumbled upon two never-before-seen shipwrecks while assessing a famous 16th-century shipwreck off the Colombian coast, according to officials.
Colombian President Iván Duque Márquez, whoconfirmed the discoveryin a speech on Monday, said one of the vessels is believed to be from the Colonial period, while the other seems to be the Republican period of the country’s history, per a preliminary analysis.
The two new wrecks, which had not been previously reported, “add to the historical heritage context of the Colombian Caribbean,” the Colombian Navy said.
PHOTO: twitterPHOTO: twitter
The General Maritime Directorate teamed with Colombian Navy to conduct observations around the site where the San José galleon sat for the last two years, per Monday’s release.
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What’s more — some historians believe the artifacts found there could be worth billions of dollars, according to NBC News andReuters.
Colombia Armada
“This is one more demonstration of the work of our Navy men and women, always protecting the Nation’s maritime interests and the country’s sovereignty,“Aponte wrote on Twitteralongside footage of the expedition.
Marta Lucía Ramírez, Vice President and Chancellor of the Submerged Cultural Heritage of Colombia, saidin a February press releasethat the San José galleon had been declared “an archaeological, cultural and historical heritage,” which she said “are invaluable for what they represent” in history.
“Likewise, we will do it with any of the boats that are in the area, so that when they are extracted, they will be in a museum of shipwrecked species, which will be a source of pride for Colombia, the Caribbean and the world,” Ramírez said in the Spanish-language release.
She later added, “Submerged heritage is invaluable, hence the responsibility to protect it until it can be extracted, contributing to the history of Colombia, the Caribbean and the world.”
Ownership of the shipwreck remains under legal review, according to the BBC. Spain has claimed it is a “ship of state” as it was under the country’s control when it was sunk, citing United Nations rules.
However, Santossaid in 2015that items found at the scene of the wreck would eventually go into a museum to be built in Cartagena.
source: people.com
