logo
welcome
BBC

BBC

The fraught battle over the holy grail of shipwrecks

BBC
Summary
Nutrition label

75% Informative

The San José was sunk by the British off the coast of Colombia more than 300 years ago .

It had a cargo of gold, silver and emeralds worth billions of dollars .

The Colombian and Spanish states have staked a claim to it, as have a US salvage company and indigenous groups.

The case is now before the Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague .

Treasure hunters point to the commercial value of the cargo, which could be as much as $18bn .

In 1982 , the UN adopted the Convention on the Law of the Sea , but it says very little about shipwrecks.

UN adopted a second set of rules in 2001 the Unesco Underwater Cultural Heritage 2001 Convention .

Many countries have refused to ratify it, fearing it will weaken their claim to riches in their waters.

VR Score

75

Informative language

71

Neutral language

45

Article tone

informal

Language

English

Language complexity

33

Offensive language

not offensive

Hate speech

not hateful

Attention-grabbing headline

not detected

Known propaganda techniques

not detected

Time-value

medium-lived

Affiliate links

no affiliate links