Treasure recovery
July 20, 2012 6:52 PM Subscribe
SS Gairsoppa was a merchant ship working for the British in 1941. On her final voyage she was part of convoy SL-64, moving cargo from India to the UK. Gairsoppa carried tea, pig iron, and silver ingots worth £600,000 (in 1941). She ran short of coal and had to leave the convoy, hoping to reach a port in Galway. She got spotted by a German airplane, and was torpedoed by U-101. Gairsoppa sank in 4700 meters of water SW of Ireland. On Wednesday, Oddyssey Marine Exploration announced that they had recovered 48 tons (1203 bars, 1.4 million troy ounces) of silver from the wreck. (gallery) This is the heaviest and deepest recovery of precious metal in history, but it may be only 20% of the silver carried by the ship.
At the current bullion price of $27.25 per troy ounce, this recovery is worth more than $38 million.
At the current bullion price of $27.25 per troy ounce, this recovery is worth more than $38 million.
And they said they had all pig iron. I knew they were up to something!
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 7:31 PM on July 20, 2012 [5 favorites]
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 7:31 PM on July 20, 2012 [5 favorites]
Wait, that doesn't make sense, I've got that backwards. I should go to bed before I mangle anymore folk songs.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 7:34 PM on July 20, 2012
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 7:34 PM on July 20, 2012
Unlike the Spanish ship Oddyssey Marine found and lost, they will get to keep 80% of it this time.
posted by stbalbach at 8:06 PM on July 20, 2012
posted by stbalbach at 8:06 PM on July 20, 2012
Wow, damn. They literally recovered tons of sunken treasure, and they're going to get to keep nearly all of it. That hardly ever happens. Very cool!
posted by Scientist at 8:27 PM on July 20, 2012
posted by Scientist at 8:27 PM on July 20, 2012
They knew going in that their take would be 80%. They won a bid for a license from the UK government to do this recovery, and that was part of the terms.
There's another ship, which went down in WWI, which also had a lot of silver on board. It was included in the contract.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 8:30 PM on July 20, 2012
There's another ship, which went down in WWI, which also had a lot of silver on board. It was included in the contract.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 8:30 PM on July 20, 2012
Finding some sunken treasure would really scratch an itch I've had since I was 8, I'd for sure use some of the proceeds to buy a working space suit and just an assload of rollos.
so many quarters I'd flip Galaga all night long, go to the soho zat and buy all those 2000 AD imports, get my Judge Dredd on, so many ninja stars and M-80's.
Me of 1983 is really the only version of me I could trust to make good use of the haul.
Dr. Browns Black Cherry in the little glass bottles for everyone, we're shutting Ben's pizza down. Get two pairs 'roos and the freezy freaky JACKET!
Ahem, excuse me...
posted by Divine_Wino at 8:45 PM on July 20, 2012 [7 favorites]
so many quarters I'd flip Galaga all night long, go to the soho zat and buy all those 2000 AD imports, get my Judge Dredd on, so many ninja stars and M-80's.
Me of 1983 is really the only version of me I could trust to make good use of the haul.
Dr. Browns Black Cherry in the little glass bottles for everyone, we're shutting Ben's pizza down. Get two pairs 'roos and the freezy freaky JACKET!
Ahem, excuse me...
posted by Divine_Wino at 8:45 PM on July 20, 2012 [7 favorites]
Cool that the ship was headed to my old stomping ground of Galway. The Volvo Ocean Race just finished there a few weeks ago.
posted by Nick Verstayne at 9:28 PM on July 20, 2012
posted by Nick Verstayne at 9:28 PM on July 20, 2012
This idea that the sunken treasure belongs to the government of whichever country the ship came from is ridiculous. They don't own that stuff anymore, the sea does. And whoever finds it and brings it back should be the next owner.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 10:11 PM on July 20, 2012 [4 favorites]
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 10:11 PM on July 20, 2012 [4 favorites]
Well, it's better than happened with Odyssey's Black Swan Project. After lawsuits, Spain claimed 100% of their haul of silver and gold coins off a Spanish wreck from 1804.
posted by ShooBoo at 10:54 PM on July 20, 2012
posted by ShooBoo at 10:54 PM on July 20, 2012
Well that'll teach 'em to dive before negotiating.
Get the licenses first, me hearties!
posted by notyou at 2:00 AM on July 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
Get the licenses first, me hearties!
posted by notyou at 2:00 AM on July 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
Well, it's better than happened with Odyssey's Black Swan Project. After lawsuits, Spain claimed 100% of their haul of silver and gold coins off a Spanish wreck from 1804.
And rightfully too! Not only was the "Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes" a Spanish warship, but Odissey lied to get the necessary permits ("Black Swan" was the codename they gave to the ship to avoid identification). It pretended it was looking for the HMS Sussex, and negotiated with the British naval authorities instead (adding insult to injury: the Mercedes was sunk by the Royal Navy in 1804 before war was declared between the two countries). What Odissey did there was plundering an archeological site, pure and simple. It's worth noting that Spain is not going to bring the treasure to the market, but rather preserving it.
posted by Skeptic at 3:24 AM on July 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
And rightfully too! Not only was the "Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes" a Spanish warship, but Odissey lied to get the necessary permits ("Black Swan" was the codename they gave to the ship to avoid identification). It pretended it was looking for the HMS Sussex, and negotiated with the British naval authorities instead (adding insult to injury: the Mercedes was sunk by the Royal Navy in 1804 before war was declared between the two countries). What Odissey did there was plundering an archeological site, pure and simple. It's worth noting that Spain is not going to bring the treasure to the market, but rather preserving it.
posted by Skeptic at 3:24 AM on July 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
And whoever finds it and brings it back should be the next owner.
Really? Treasure hunting vs. archaeology.
posted by Skeptic at 3:42 AM on July 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
Really? Treasure hunting vs. archaeology.
posted by Skeptic at 3:42 AM on July 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
I'd like to see the Indians make a claim for their lost colonial assets.
posted by infini at 4:29 AM on July 21, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by infini at 4:29 AM on July 21, 2012 [2 favorites]
They're not just saying, "hey, that private ship set sail from the UK, so that silver is the UK governments now." The owners of the ship had the UK insure the contents. When it sunk, they got paid cash for all that silver, with the provision that the UK owns the property if/when it is salvaged. What's so unfair about that? And even now the people of the UK are only getting 20% back.
I doubt the government was the insurer. Lloyd's was probably the insurer, even in wartime. The value of 20% of the silver today is likely much greater than the amount they paid out at the time of the loss, or else they wouldn't have negotiated for that percentage.
posted by halfbuckaroo at 6:07 AM on July 21, 2012
I doubt the government was the insurer. Lloyd's was probably the insurer, even in wartime. The value of 20% of the silver today is likely much greater than the amount they paid out at the time of the loss, or else they wouldn't have negotiated for that percentage.
posted by halfbuckaroo at 6:07 AM on July 21, 2012
I'd like to see the Indians make a claim for their lost colonial assets.
Yeah, I'd definitely like to see indigenous peoples all over the world make such a claim.
posted by elizardbits at 12:00 PM on July 21, 2012
Yeah, I'd definitely like to see indigenous peoples all over the world make such a claim.
posted by elizardbits at 12:00 PM on July 21, 2012
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