Salvage work on sunken galleon to start next year

The government and the private sector are working hand-in-hand to start next year what could be the most ambitious underwater salvaging operation of this century.

Dubbed as "Project Xavier," the operation is expected to unlock the mystery of the Nuestra Señora de San Francisco San Xavier, a Mexican galleon that sank in Albay Gulf in Bicol almost 300 years ago.

The National Museum, with the help of an international consortium of archeologists and historians, is leading the project. It is at present raising funds while experts from the United States, Australia and Mexico are expected to arrive in January to help preserve the archeological integrity of the work.

National Museum sources refused to reveal details of what lies beneath the waters of the Albay Gulf. They said they, too, have been curious as to what treasures, if any, are contained in the splintered hull of the Xavier galleon.

The Xavier was discovered in 1966 by three adventurous teenage boys from the village of Buyatan in Sto. Domingo, Albay while they were spear-fishing in the gulf. On board a small banca, they paddled their way to a spot with huge underwater rocks.

While swimming after a big grouper, one of the boys saw a human-like figure emerging from the sea bottom. Thinking it was a "sea demon," the boy panicked and immediately swam to the surface. He narrated his encounter to his friends, and the boys, although afraid, decided to investigate.

The three boys saw half of the "sea demon" sticking out of the sand, stoically staring straight at them. But upon closer inspection, they realized it was a life-sized wooden statue, partially buried on the sea floor.

Upon hearing of the discovery, Galo Ocampo, then director of the National Museum, sent a team of divers to Albay to probe further. Led by former Navy frogman Felix Ramos, the divers saw the sunken ship and brought back broken Chinese porcelain, stoneware jars, a couple of extremely large iron anchors and copper sheathing used in protecting the wooden hull of the gigantic ship.

The Xavier is believed to contain several treasures that were supposed to be brought to Mexico to adorn an ancient cathedral.

Treasure-filled

The Philippine waters have become burial grounds for millions of dollars worth of treasures from ancient vessels. Historians believe that of the 110 Spanish galleons that had been lost, 80 floundered in Philippine waters.

One of these ill-fated galleons was the San Diego, a once proud Spanish ship that plied the Manila-Acapulco route. In 1600, under the command of an incompetent captain, the San Diego went into battle with Dutch pirates. After a few hours of fighting, the ship sank 52 meters down.

Untouched for almost 400 years, the San Diego was discovered in 1991 off Fortune Island, outside Manila Bay. A relatively smaller ship, it still proved to be an archeologist’s dream. Two years of salvage operations yielded 34,000 artifacts, including Ming Dynasty porcelain, gold ornaments and jewelry, coins, swords, military weapons and other items with a combined value of $13 million.

The San Diego treasures are now exhibited in the Naval Museum in Madrid, Spain and in the National Museum in Manila.

The Xavier galleon, on the other hand, is a much bigger vessel. It is estimated to be equal in size to the Nuestra Señora de Concepcion, another Acapulco-bound galleon that sank off the coast of Saipan in 1638 and was discovered in 1990. The Concepcion was about 160 feet in length and was overloaded with Asian treasures now worth almost a billion dollars.

Since 1966, the government has made several attempts to unlock the Xavier galleon’s mystery, but the lack of equipment and funds has stalled its efforts.

Next year, however, archeologists are optimistic that the Xavier treasures will finally be brought to the surface, never to slip back to the volcanic sands of the Albay Gulf again.