Since the Colombian navy discovered the final resting place of the Spanish galleon San José in 2015, its location has remained a state secret, the wreck - and its precious cargo - left deep under the waters of the Caribbean.
Efforts to conserve the ship and recover its cargo have been caught up in a string of international legal disputes, with Colombia, Spain, Bolivian Indigenous groups and a US salvage company laying claim to the wreck.
The gold, silver and emeralds on board are thought to be worth as much as $17bn. When Colombia tried to auction off part of the bounty to fund the colossal costs of recovering the ship, Unesco and the country's high courts intervened.
But eight years after the discovery, officials now say they are pushing politics to one side and could begin lifting artefacts from the "holy grail of shipwrecks" as soon as April.
"There has been this persistent view of the galleon as a treasure trove. We want to turn the page on that," Alhena Caicedo, director of the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History, said. "We aren't thinking about treasure. We're thinking about how to access the historical and archeological information at the site."
The San José was returning to Europe with treasures to help fund the war of the Spanish succession when it was sunk by a British squadron in 1708, close to the Caribbean port city of Cartagena. Historians say the wreck could help reveal much about the Spanish empire at the height of its power - and the shared, overlapping histories of Europe and Latin America.
Eventually, Caicedo's team hopes to raise the wreck itself, and put it on display in a custom-built museum. But as exploration continues at the site, the scale and complexity of the challenge is coming into focus.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der March 29, 2024-Ausgabe von The Guardian Weekly.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der March 29, 2024-Ausgabe von The Guardian Weekly.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Beauty, shock and horror
At the British Museum, Hew Locke places his work alongside art and artefacts plundered by colonisers from the peoples and cultures they destroyed
Sleep on it pon
Everyone wants a good night's rest-but the more you obsess over it, the more elusive it becomes. Anita Chaudhuri enters the nightmarish, data-driven world of orthosomnia
JOURNALIST OR RUSSIAN SPY? THE STRANGE CASE OF PABLO GONZÁLEZ
while reporting on Russia's covert operation to annex Crimea, I spotted a familiar figure. With his muscular build and shiny shaved head, Pablo González was easy to recognise from afar.
'My hero' Worldwide solidarity for Pelicot's courage
She has been hailed as a feminist hero across France, commended for her courage at rallies across the country and applauded by supporters each time she has entered or left the courtroom in the southern city of Avignon.
Revealed The international 'race science' network funded by US tech boss
Group promoting 'dangerous' scientific racism ideology teamed up with German rightwing extremist, secret recordings show
Residents count cost of a climate risk hotspot
Damage to northern region ignites debate in acountry where just 6% are insured against natural disaster
A new England The next coach is German and it really, really doesn't matter
While objectivity has never had much place in English football, Thomas Tuchel's appointment as the new national team coach represents a significant departure in two obvious ways.
Are Earth's carbon sinks collapsing?
Scientists fear that as it heats up, the planet is losing its natural ability to absorb CO2 through oceans, forests and soil
UK is waging proxy war, says Russian ambassador
Moscow's ambassador to London has said the UK is waging a proxy war against Russia while predicting the \"end of Ukraine\".
Small and lethal Adapted drones carrying explosives 'hunt' civilians
Sasha Ustenko has survived three attacks by the Russian drones that stalk the streets of Kherson carrying fragmentation grenades to drop on anything that moves.