Colombian naval officials conducting underwater monitoring of the long-sunken San José galleon say they have discovered two other historical shipwrecks nearby.

The wrecks, a colonial boat and a schooner, are thought to be from around the same period as Colombia's war for independence from Spain, some 200 years ago.

The San José galleon, located in 2015 was sunk by the British in 1708 near Colombia's Caribbean port of Cartagena.

Some historians believe its cargo of treasure could be worth billions of dollars today. Ownership of the wreck has been the subject of a long-running legal row. Spain says the ship and treasures are a "ship of state" as it belonged to the Spanish navy when it was sunk and is protected as such by United Nations regulations.

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