Robot sub finds 'holy grail of shipwrecks' with treasure worth billions

MSN ^ | 05/23/18

[Simon Green]

A more than 300-year-old Spanish shipwreck carrying treasure that might be worth up to $17 billion was discovered with the help of an underwater robot. It's called the Remus 6000 and it can dive nearly four miles and is loaded with sensors and cameras.

Bronze cannons confirmed "the holy grail of shipwrecks" had been found at the bottom of the Caribbean Sea. They are engraved with dolphins — a telltale sign they belong to the Spanish galleon San Jose, lost more than 300 years ago.

"I just sat there for about 10 minutes and smiled," said Jeff Kaeli, a research engineer with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Kaeli was alone in his bunk on the search vessel when he spotted the cannons.

"I'm not a marine archaeologist, but ... I know what a cannon looks like. So in that moment, I guess I was the only person in the world who knew we'd found the shipwreck," he said.

The exact location of the wreckage is still a secret, but it was discovered in November 2015 off the coast of Cartagena, Colombia. Its cargo of gold, silver, and emeralds could be worth as much as $17 billion.

The Remus 6000, operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts, found the ship almost 2,000 feet below the surface. The underwater robot scanned the sea floor using long-range sonar then went back and took pictures of any objects that seemed out of the ordinary.

"You can take bigger risks with your technology and go to places where it wouldn't be safe or feasible to put a human being," Kaeli said.

[Sacajaweau]

Always cool....

A piece of the action would be cool, too.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Aaargh! At the bottom of me Davey Jones locker eh?

[Robert A Cook PE]

In 5, 4, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, ...

Cue the governments trying to get their tax “fair share” off of the people actually recovering the treasures from this “unclaimed” wreck!

[plain talk]

The exact location of the wreckage is still a secret, but it was discovered in November 2015 off the coast of Cartagena, Colombia. Its cargo of gold, silver, and emeralds could be worth as much as $17 billion.

I would think Columbian pirates would be quite interested.

[Magnum44]

Maybe it wasn’t worth $17B back then, but I always wondered what the motivation was for the Spanish and other European monarchies was to load up all that treasure onto a sailing ship and send it out to sea. I guess in many cases it was to buy goods to bring back to Spain.

[Simon Green]

Cue the governments trying to get their tax “fair share” off of the people actually recovering the treasures from this “unclaimed” wreck!

From later in the article:

The wreck has been shrouded in secrecy because of lingering questions about who owns it.

Colombia and Spain both say it belongs to them. The researchers at Woods Hole say they are explorers, not treasure hunters, and are not involved in the ownership disputes.

[AFreeBird]

No, the treasure was to bring back to Spain to fill Phillp’s coffers.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Robert A Cook PE. Say what you want about those English Privateers and freelance pirates from everywhere, momma nature kept more gold out of Spanish hands than did the Jolly Roger. When I was in junior high (middle school, for those of a younger demographic) one of my classmates brought an interesting thing to social studies (the leftist perversion of history, when history was eliminated from curricula) -- some relative of hers was trying to raise money to recover sunken treasure, and we passed around the sample, a Spanish Real from 300-350 years before. Wonder what happened with that?

[PGR88]

I always wondered what the motivation was for the Spanish and other European monarchies was to load up all that treasure onto a sailing ship and send it out to sea.

Spain was at war in Europe for nearly the entire 16th century and beyond. That's very expensive.

[Bob434]

[[ I guess in many cases it was to buy goods to bring back to Spain.]]

Nope=- it was to buy scratch off tickets

[Magnum44]

That makes sense... stolen or fleeced from Inca’s and Aztecs?

[Yo-Yo]

Maybe it wasn’t worth $17B back then, but I always wondered what the motivation was for the Spanish and other European monarchies was to load up all that treasure onto a sailing ship and send it out to sea. I guess in many cases it was to buy goods to bring back to Spain.

Back then, money was real gold and silver. If your country wanted to put more money into circulation, they had to find more gold and silver.

These ships weren't taking gold from Europe to the Americas, they were taking gold and silver from the New World and returning it to the Old World to increase the Old World's total wealth.

Unfortunately they didn't have the Weather Channel back then, so they didn't know when they were about to sail into a hurricane.

[discostu]

And now they’ll be tied up in court for 10 years. Never announce a big find until after you’ve landed the treasure.

[1Old Pro]

The exact location of the wreckage is still a secret

Not to the Chinese spy satellites.

[sheana]

Spain always lays claim to any found Spanish wreck regardless of where it’s found. They’ve succeeded a few times in getting their share.

[montag813]

Why announce this, when Spain will just sue to freeze it and claim the wreck again?

Just quietly sell the contents to an interested party.

[bgill]

So, that’s where I misplaced my ship. It’s mine. All mine!

[American in Israel]

More like the other way, they looted other cultures and sent the gold home.

[Eccl 10:2]

Agreed. I call BS.

He’s after funding and/or film rights.