Kategorie: News
Cargo of 200 tons of silver
Members of Odyssey Marine Exploration announced on 26 September 2011 that they have successfully found and preliminarily investigated the wreck of the British freighter SS Gairsoppa. The ship, carrying a cargo of 200 tonnes of silver, had been sunk by a German U-boat in 1941. The 125-metre long freighter SS Gairsoppa was almost at the end of its service life. Salvage work has now begun in July 2012.
The wreck of the freighter SS Gairsoppa with a cargo of 200 tonnes of silver was found the previous year! Members of Odyssey Marine Exploration have announced that they have successfully located and preliminarily investigated the wreck of the British freighter SS Gairsoppa. The ship, carrying a cargo of 200 tonnes of silver, had been sunk by a German U-boat in 1941.
The 125-metre long freighter SS Gairsoppa was almost at the end of its journey from Calcutta to Liverpool. Along with the ship, the long-awaited and extremely valuable cargo was due to arrive in port. The hold contained a full 7 million ounces of silver in the form of 2,817 bars with a total value of 150 million pounds.
Due to the difficult weather conditions and the lack of coal, the captain decided to abandon the convoy and call at the Irish port of Gallway. Unfortunately, this very move, which came almost at the end of the voyage, proved to be wrong. After separating from the other ships in the convoy, the SS Gairsoppa was targeted by the German submarine U-101.
On the home stretch
During the night of 16-17 February, the submarine commanded by Captain Ernst Mengersen launched a torpedo attack. Less than a quarter of an hour before midnight, the freighter was hit by German torpedoes. According to the logbook of U-101, the ship sank 20 minutes after the hit, at 00:08 on 17 February. 85 sailors died on board the British ship.
The wreck of the SS Gairsoppa was found about 300 miles southwest of the Irish coast. Although the freighter lies at a sea depth of 4,700 metres, Odyssey Marine Exploration has now begun to recover the cargo. US specialists retrieved about 43 tonnes of silver bars from the depths. Only a fraction of the treasure worth millions. According to the current silver price, the value of the silver bars recovered so far should be around 38 million dollars (just under 31 million euros). According to Odyssey Marine Exploration, the recovery of the silver bars should be completed by the end of September.
Odyssey experts estimate that the entire operation will take about 60-90 days. Thanks to the agreement the company has reached with the UK Department for Transport, Odyssey will retain 80% of the value of the recovered cargo.
"We have already successfully completed two important phases of the project. We have found and identified the wreck of the SS Gairsoppa and have now started to recover the treasure. We are confident of successfully completing the project and recovering the entire siber cargo," said Andrew Craig of Odyssey Marine Exploration.
"We have undoubtedly been very fortunate that the wreck is on keel and its holds are open and easily accessible," said Greg Stemm, Odyssey's managing director.
Odyssey Marine Exploration is a world leader in the exploration and recovery of valuable cargoes from deep-sea wrecks. Among other things, a treasure was found in May 2007 that is considered the most valuable in history. It is a sailing ship that was christened the Black Swan. Another undeniable success was the discovery of the ship HMS Victory, which sank in 1744 and from which 100,000 ounces of gold were recovered. Other wrecks found include the Shantarman, the Enigma and the Firebrand. They each had a cargo value of about 50 million US dollars.