Shipwrecked colonial treasures that have lain on the seabed for centuries could be recovered and returned to their countries of origin as reparations for slavery.
Tim Maxwell, an international cultural heritage lawyer, said repatriating artefacts found underwater could help former colonial powers meet moral obligations to countries they had historically exploited for their transatlantic trade.
“Former colonial powers have dominated claims to ownership of these historic shipwrecks, even once brought on shore,” he said. “Spain in particular has been active in claiming the contents of colonial-era shipwrecks against private salvage companies. In general, ‘source’ countries have not had much of a look-in. This is an anomaly in a world where Commonwealth and other governments are demanding slavery reparations. Why should countries in the Caribbean, South America and elsewhere not be able to lay claim to their underwater cultural heritage?”
Maxwell, a partner at London law firm Wedlake Bell, highlighted the example of a Spanish galleon, the San José, sunk by a British squadron in 1708. It went down with gold, silver and emeralds worth billions of dollars today – sparking ownership claims in recent years from Colombia, Spain, Bolivian Indigenous groups and a US salvage company. Although it lies in Colombian waters, Spain has argued it was part ofits fleet returning from what was then part of the Spanish empire. The wreck could be lifted this year.
Maxwell has been involved with restitution cases for colonial and Nazi artefacts. He argues that, while governments and the art world largely recognise the importance of returning colonial-era artefacts to their countries of origin, this should apply to colonial-era underwater heritage.
Many European museums have returned artefacts looted or removed during the colonial era to the countries of origin. Germany and the Horniman Museum have handed back Benin bronzes to Nigeria; in 2023, the Netherlands repatriated more than 200 artefacts to its former colony, Indonesia.
Maxwell said: “Enormous quantities of natural resources, including gold, silver and precious stones, were shipped on trade routes to Europe … While much of this enriched the colonial powers, some of it never reached port due to the perils of early modern shipping. The Caribbean and the waters around South America, in particular, are littered with colonial-era shipwrecks where ships were caught out in fierce storms or attacked by rival colonial powers.
“Most of their cargo has either remained on the seabed, unable to be claimed by the countries of origin, or where accessible, excavated by private salvage companies, with former colonial powers then weighing in to claim ownership over source countries.”
Caecilia Dance, a Wedlake Bell solicitor, is working with Maxwell on the proposal. She said: “Places like Peru, Colombia, Bolivia were looted by the colonial powers but, at the moment, flag states generally say, actually, it all belongs to us.”
Last year, Wreckwatch magazine published an issue on the San José galleon. It noted that much of the treasure was mined in Potosi in modern Bolivia: “Spain’s exploitation of Potosi led to … forced and enslaved Indigenous people dying in the production of … precious metals.”
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Wreckwatch editor Dr Sean Kingsley is a maritime archaeologist and co-author of Enslaved: the Sunken History of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. He said: “There is absolutely a discussion to be had about who owns the sunken past with entangled links. The thorny question is how to ensure equality in reparations. Spanish treasure ships returning from the Americas were notoriously valuable.
“Sub-dividing consignments of gold, silver, emeralds and pearls to the ‘representatives’ of past atrocities in the mines of Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, in theory is quite achievable … But there are snags. Not every Spanish treasure ship is a San José. Values of cargoes oscillate dramatically.”
In contrast, the most valuable item on shipwrecks of slave traders from west Africa tended to be sugar – “dissolved and worthless today” – which would leave little of value to be given as reparations.
“So far, politicians have been tone deaf in really listening to the interests of Indigenous peoples in weighing up the fates of this sunken history.”
Historian Jeff Forret, author of The Price They Paid: Slavery, Shipwrecks, and Reparations Before the Civil War, said the proposal was “pretty plausible”, adding: “But what it ultimately all boils down to is a political will.”