Battle in the High Seas to Settle Dispute Between US & Colombia Over the San Jose Galleon?

The United States and Colombia might be settling the dispute over the highly debated San Jose Galleon to the high seas. Both countries are experiencing a long standing debate on who has to rights to the supposed treasures hidden within the sunken wreck.

LA Times reports that the dispute may soon play out on the high seas, as the salvagers announced on Saturday they are planning to recover the wreck's treasures, said to be worth billions in gold and silver.

The ambitious expedition might bring the Sea Search Armada salvage partnership to arms with the Colombian navy, who guard the site where the San Jose is believed to lie, three centuries after it sunk off the Colombian coast near the port city of Cartagena.

The entire dispute over the sunken San Jose came to be when Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced that his navy and certain unnamed technical advisors had found the wreck in December. Santos also said that the Colombian government would build a museum to house the relics because the "San Jose belongs to the world."

According to the report, the sunken ship was part of a convoy headed to Spain. Its cargo included treasures of gold, silver and jewels. Its modern day value is estimated to number between $3 billion and $10 billion. Naval ships have been stationed to guard the site from poachers.

"This is one of the largest finds of sunken patrimony in the history of humanity," Santos said. He added that Colombia wants to "maintain sovereignty" over the wreck.

The Seattle-based Sea Search Armada claims to have located the sunken galleon in 1982. It said it has been trying to gain permission from Colombia to salvage the site and gain a 50% finder's fee on any booty recovered. A 2007 Colombian Supreme Court decision has upheld the partners' rights, said Danilo Devis, an attorney who represents the group.

Devis said the Colombian government made no new discovery, as they used coordinates that Sea Search Armada partners provided Colombia three decades ago. The Sea Search Armada was formed in 1980, and included investors such as actor Michael Landon, former Nixon White House aide John Ehrlichmann and professional golfer Cary Middlecoff, all who have now passed away.

Sea Search Armada investors reportedly spent more than $10 million to find the wreck, and pursued its claim with the Colombian government. Managing partner Jack Harbeston said that the "best proof of our discovery is the accuracy of our location," and photos showing the wreck's underwater cannons.

Harbeston said he thought Colombia was about to finally issue a permit. Instead, Devis said that the Colombian government carried out an operation behind their backs.

Colombia has not revealed the exact location of the wreck, but Sea Search Armada has proposed going to the government's site on an official delegation.

"If they can prove to us that their site is different from ours, we will leave with our bags packed and renounce all our rights with no questions asked," Devis said.

A report with Fox News Latino says that the United States is not the only nation who has a dispute to settle with Colombia over the wreck. Spain maintains, it too, has rights to the wreckage. Spain's claim to the San Jose has been upheld in past U.S. court battles over the sunken treasure. The U.S. generally backs "eternal" sovereign claims to naval wreckage in order protect its control over any U.S. ships that have sunk in international waters.

Peru has also raised its claim to any treasure recovered from the San Jose, saying that the bulk of the gold and silver could be considered Peruvian national patrimony because it was mined and processed there, back when Peru was a Spanish colony.