‘Holy grail of shipwrecks’: recovery of 18th-century Spanish ship could begin in April

The San José was traveling to Europe with treasures to fund the war of the Spanish succession when it was sunk by the British off the coast of Colombia. Photograph: Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy

Since the Colombian navy discovered the final resting place of the Spanish galleon San José in 2015, its location has remained a state secret, the wreck – and its precious cargo – left deep under the waters of the Caribbean.

Efforts to conserve the ship and recover its precious cargo have been caught up in a complicated string of international legal disputes, with Colombia, Spain, Bolivian Indigenous groups and a US salvage company laying claim to the wreck, and the gold, silver and emeralds onboard thought to be worth as much as $17bn.