Unesco is urging Colombia's government not to commercially exploit the 300-year-old shipwreck of Spanish galleon San Jose, which some researchers believe contains billions of dollars in sunken treasure.
Auron Tare, head of the Unesco department responsible for protecting underwater cultural heritage, wrote to Colombian Culture Minister Mariana Garces Cordoba saying that recovering the cargo for sale, as opposed to for its historical value, "would cause the irretrievable loss of significant heritage."
The "San Jose shipwreck represents cultural heritage" and "allowing the commercial exploitation of Colombia's cultural heritage goes against the best scientific standards and international ethical principles as laid down especially in the Unesco Underwater Cultural Heritage Convention," Tare wrote.
He also confirmed that Unesco officials are willing and able to offer their expertise on the matter.
Colombia is not a signatory to the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, which would subject it to international standards requiring detailed plans for how the wreck and its cargo will be recovered and managed.
The San Jose sank in the Caribbean Sea near the city of Cartagena on June 8, 1708, as it tried to elude a fleet of British warships in pursuit of its valuable cargo.
It's believed that 11 million gold and silver coins, emeralds and other precious metals looted from the Americas under Spanish colonialism were aboard the ship at the time.
Spain, Colombia and the United States have waged a grueling legal battle to determine who owns the rights to the San Jose, considered by experts to be the holy grail of Spanish colonial-era shipwrecks.