6 Valuable Wrecks Still Waiting to Be Found

In 2015, an ROV (remotely operated vehicle) descended into the depths of the Caribbean Sea on a mission led by Colombia to search for a long-lost treasure ship. At a depth of 9,000 feet, the operators finally caught sight of their goal: the Spanish Galleon San Jose, which had sunk in 1708. Legend had it that the ship was carrying 200 tons of treasure, and its exact location remained unknown for over 300 years. Even in the 21st century, we continue to uncover lost treasure ships.

According to UNESCO, there are approximately three million undiscovered shipwrecks scattered across the Earth's oceans, lakes, and rivers. However, not all of them contain treasure. Some wrecks, like the famous Titanic, hold historical significance. Others captivate historians due to their unusual locations, such as the Steamboat Arabia, which sank in the cornfields of Kansas in the mid-1800s. Despite its distance from the river's present channel, the ship and its cargo were successfully recovered. However, not all lucrative shipwrecks meet the same fate.

One of the oldest yet-to-be-found wrecks is the "Flor de la Mar," meaning the "flower of the sea" in Portuguese. This Portuguese Carrack sank in 1511 near the island of Sumatra, present-day Indonesia. It was on its way from Malacca, Malaysia, but a storm prevented it from reaching its destination. Most of the ship's 400 crew members perished, leaving behind a treasure estimated to be worth over two billion dollars in today's currency. The fate of the treasure remains a mystery, with some speculating that the ship's owners recovered a significant portion, while others believe it lies buried in the ocean's sediment. Considering the competing claims from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Portugal, the financial viability of salvaging this ship remains uncertain.

Another noteworthy shipwreck is the Merchant Royal, an English vessel that sank near the Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, England, in 1641. Poor repair work resulted in the ship's hull leaking, causing it to take on too much seawater. Additionally, the ship's captain offered to take on extra cargo from another burned vessel, further compromising its stability. Laden with silver and gold, the Merchant Royal's wreck became known as the "El Dorado of the Sea." In 2007, a breakthrough occurred when a private salvage company believed they had found the ship. However, the discovered wreck turned out to be a different Spanish vessel that sank over a century and a half later, disappointing treasure hunters who expected to find over one million dollars' worth of treasure.

Let's test your history knowledge with a short quiz: Can you name Christopher Columbus's three famous ships? The correct answer is the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. While the first two returned from their voyage to the New World, the Santa Maria, the fleet's flagship, ran aground somewhere in Hispaniola (modern-day Haiti) in 1492. In 2014, American explorer Barry Clifford believed he had discovered the fabled ship, but UNESCO experts quickly refuted the claim. The shipwreck found had copper fasteners typical of ships from the late 17th and 18th centuries, whereas Columbus's ship would have been constructed using wood or iron. The search for the Santa Maria continues, with the allure of being the explorer who finds it surpassing any monetary reward.

When ships sink, bad weather often becomes the prime suspect. In the North Atlantic Ocean, waves can reach extraordinary heights of 60 feet. However, poor weather conditions are not always to blame. The SS Arctic, one of the most luxurious steamboats of its time, collided with a French