‘Holy Grail of shipwrecks’ to be lifted from the sea floor after more than 300 years

The Spanish galleon San Jose is set to finally be recovered from the bottom of the Caribbean Sea, the Colombian government has said.

President Gustavo Petro has made it a priority to lift the vessel before his term comes to an end in 2026.

Colombia’s Culture Minister Juan David Correa told Bloomberg: "The president has told us to pick up the pace."

The ship is believed to have been carrying 200 tons of treasure, reportedly worth between £3.2 billion and £16 billion, when it went down on June 8, in 1708.

There has long been dispute over who has the rights to the ship’s remains and treasure, with Spain being one of them.

But Bolivia's indigenous Qhara Qhara nation argues Spain was only able to obtain the treasure because it forced the Qhara Qhara people to mine on its behalf.

Previous research suggests the ship is currently harbouring gold, silver, emeralds, intact Chinese porcelain, pottery and cannons

Meanwhile, US research group Glocca Morra claims to have first discovered the wreck in 1981 and handed the coordinates to Colombia with the condition it would recieve half the wealth.

The vessel was sunk by the British Royal Navy during the War Of Spanish Succession.

It has been dubbed the “Holy Grail of shipwrecks” for the huge amounts of information it could offer about the early 1700s.