For more than three centuries, the world has puzzled over the disappearance of the Spanish galleon San Jose with a rich treasure of gold, silver, and other valuables. However, the mystery ended on November 27 with the discovery of the wreck off the coast of Cartagena. This is possibly the biggest discovery of a sunken treasure because CNN estimates its value at $17 billion.

The identity of the sunken ship is beyond doubt because autonomous underwater vehicles have retrieved images of bronze cannons that were specially made for the San Jose.

The ship, which was reportedly carrying 11 million gold coins and jewels, sank in June 1708 when it was attempting to get away from British warships.

There is already a raging legal battle between the U.S., Colombia, and Spain about ownership of the wreck and its rich spoils. A U.S. group of investors called Sea Search Armada claim that they had discovered the wreck in 1981 and are demanding a 50-50 split with Colombia. On the other hand, Colombia has declared that all legal rulings favor Colombia’s right over the sunken treasure.