logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2024
17m 29s

Shipwrecks: The search for the San José

Bbc World Service
About this episode

In the first of our three part series looking at the money behind shipwrecks, we start with what's been called "the most valuable shipwreck in the world".

The San José is a Spanish galleon sunk by the British off the Colombian coast more than 300 years ago.

The treasure onboard is estimated to be worth $18bn, which means plenty of people are looking for it, and trying to lay claim to it.

A salvage company, the Colombians, the Spanish and a Bolivian indigenous community all say the shipwreck and treasure is theirs.

We hear their claims and find out more about this "holy grail of shipwrecks".

Presented and produced by Gideon Long.

(Image: Wagner's action of Cartagena (depicting the moment the San Jose exploded) by Samuel Scott. Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London)

Up next
Yesterday
Why gas still rules power prices
The price of natural gas has shot up around the world after the war began in Iran, but how is the gas price linked to electricity in some countries more so than others? We’ll be looking at how gas still sets the power prices so often. We’ll also look at Ethiopia, to see if hydrop ... Show More
17m 28s
Apr 7
Headspace: from mindfulness app to military partner
Headspace started life as a mindfulness app. Now it's partnering with the US Navy and investing in artificial intelligence for mental health support.The company's CEO Tom Pickett speaks to us about therapy, the increasing role of technology, and tackling burnout at scale.If you'd ... Show More
17m 28s
Apr 7
Anthropic: the $300bn AI firm at war with the White House
Anthropic’s rise from startup to one of the world’s leading players in artificial intelligence has been staggering, but so in recent weeks has been its row with the US Government.Today, we look at that journey to becoming a 380 billion dollar company, ask why Claude has become on ... Show More
17m 28s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2025
The fight for a legendary shipwreck's treasure
The San Jose was a marvel of 17th century technology. The Spanish galleon weighed more than a thousand tons, was made of wood reinforced with iron, and featured three masts and 64 cannons. In its cargo were gold, silver, silk and porcelain. But in 1708, it sank after a battle wit ... Show More
23m 29s
Jan 2024
The case of the serial sinking Spanish ships
Picture the Pacific Ocean of the 16th century. Spanish Galleons sail the wide open seas, carrying precious cargo like silver, porcelain, and textiles. The waters are dangerous; ship logs show concerns over pirates. But pirates are not to blame for a mysterious event that keeps ha ... Show More
26m 13s
Feb 2021
An Anthology of Puerto Rico
Maria and Julio welcome Alana Casanova-Burgess, reporter and producer for WNYC's "On The Media", and Cristina del Mar Quiles, reporter for the Center for Investigative Journalism (Centro de Periodismo Investigativo) to talk about Puerto Rico and "La Brega," a new seven-part bilin ... Show More
40m 48s
Sep 2024
Archéologie sous-marine et San José : un problème épineux
<p>Mes chers camarades, bien le bonjour !</p><p>La passion de l’Histoire, ça s’étend sur terre, sur mer et dans les airs ! Sur mer, j’insiste, car vous connaissez peut-être déjà le grand débat qui a lieu en ce moment : en 2015, on a découvert l’épave du San José, un navire conten ... Show More
27m 31s
May 2025
Le naufrage (Shipwreck)
Le gouvernement colombien a commencé à explorer une épave du XVIIIe siècle d'un galion espagnol surnommé le "Saint Graal des naufrages".Traduction :The Colombian government has started exploring a sunk 18th Century Spanish galleon dubbed the “holy grail of shipwrecks”. Hosted on ... Show More
3m 17s
Apr 2024
Andrés Reséndez, "Conquering the Pacific: An Unknown Mariner and the Final Great Voyage of the Age of Discovery" (Mariner Books, 2022)
The Pacific Ocean is twice the size of the Atlantic, and while humans have been traversing its current-driven maritime highways for thousands of years, its sheer scale proved an obstacle to early European imperial powers. Enter Lope Martin, a forgotten Afro-Portuguese ship pilot ... Show More
1h 8m
May 2025
209: Ramesses II vs the Sea Peoples
Delta raiders. Decades before their famous migrations, the "Sea Peoples" were already active and visible in the eastern Mediterranean; and Ramesses II had his own dealings with these groups. In year 2 of his reign, Ramesses II (Usir-Ma'at-Ra) dealt with a coastal raid by the Sher ... Show More
24m 54s
Mar 2024
Special Edition: Ivar Zapp, Atlantis is America, Navigators of the Ancient World
Published almost 20 years ago, Atlantis in America is one of the best accounts and evidence for a great maritime civilization that appears to have been partially based in Costa Rica. The book presents a new theory that the great stone spheres of Costa Rica and sighting stones thr ... Show More
1h 43m
Apr 2023
The battle for Puerto Rico's beaches
Puerto Rico's beaches are an integral part of life on the island, and by law, they're one of the few places that are truly public. In practice, the sandy stretch of land where the water meets the shore is one of the island's most contested spaces.Today we're featuring an episode ... Show More
22m 59s