Did This Treasure Hunter Find a Sunken Ship With $3 Billion in Platinum Bars?
- Posted on February 2, 2012 at 7:46pm by
Liz Klimas
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Greg Brooks holds an image of the Port Nicholson in front of a monitor showing the sunken ship. (Photo:AP)
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A treasure hunter said he has located the wreck of a British merchant ship that was torpedoed by a German U-boat off Cape Cod during World War II while carrying what he claims was a load of platinum bars now worth more than $3 billion.
If the claim proves true, it could be one of the richest sunken treasures ever discovered.
Check out this account of the potential discovery:
But an attorney for the British government expressed doubt the vessel was carrying platinum. And if it was, in fact, laden with precious metals, who owns the hoard could become a matter of international dispute.
Treasure hunter Greg Brooks of Sub Sea Research in Gorham, Maine, announced that a wreck found sitting in 700 feet of water 50 miles offshore is that of the S.S. Port Nicholson, sunk in 1942.
He said Wednesday that he and his crew identified it via the hull number using an underwater camera, and he hopes to begin raising the treasure later this month or in early March with the help of a remotely operated underwater vessel.
Brooks describes in the video that you can read the letters of the ship's name but marine life makes it awfully hard to see.
“I’m going to get it, one way or another, even if I have to lift the ship out of the water,” Brooks said.
The claim should be viewed with skepticism, said Robert F. Marx, an underwater archaeologist, maritime historian and owner of Seven Seas Search and Salvage LLC in Florida. Both an American company and an English company previously went after the contents of the ship years ago and surely retrieved at least a portion, Marx said. The question is how much, if any, platinum is left, he said.
“Every wreck that is lost is the richest wreck lost. Every wreck ever found is the biggest ever found. Every recovery is the biggest ever recovery,” Marx said.
Brooks said the Port Nicholson was headed for New York with 71 tons of platinum valued at the time at about $53 million when it was sunk in an attack that left six people dead. The platinum was a payment from the Soviet Union to the U.S. for war supplies, Brooks said. The vessel was also carrying gold bullion and diamonds, he said.
Brooks said he located the wreck in 2008 using shipboard sonar but held off announcing the find while he and his business partners obtained salvage rights from a federal judge. Salvage rights are not the same as ownership rights, which are still unsettled.
Britain will wait until salvage operations begin before deciding whether to file a claim on the cargo, said Timothy Shusta, an attorney in Tampa, Fla., who represents the British government. He said it is unclear if the ship was even carrying any platinum.
Brooks found boxes in the ship that an underwater robot was unable to move, showing they were heavy and suggesting they could hold the gold.
“We’re still researching what was on the vessel,” he said. “Our initial research indicated it was mostly machinery and military stores.”
The U.S. government has not weighed in on the court case yet, and Brooks said he doubts that will happen, since the Soviets eventually reimbursed Washington for the lost payment.
A U.S. Treasury Department ledger shows that the platinum bars were on board, Brooks said, and his underwater video footage shows a platinum bar surrounded by 30 boxes that he believes hold four to five platinum ingots each. But he has yet to bring up any platinum, saying his underwater vessel needs to retrofitted to attach lines to the boxes, which would then be hoisted to the surface by winch.
“Of course there are skeptics,” he said. “There’s skeptics on everything you do.”
Maritime law is complicated, and there could be multiple claims on the ship’s contents.
After the sinking of the HMS Edinburgh, an English warship carrying Soviet gold bullion as a payment to the allies during World War II, England, the U.S. and the Soviet Union had claims on the sunken treasure, Marx said. A consortium that owned the salvage vessel was given 10 percent of the prize, while the rest was shared by the other parties, he said.
In other big finds, treasure hunter Mel Fisher made international headlines in 1985 when he discovered a $450 million mother lode of precious metals and gemstones from a Spanish galleon that went down off Florida in 1622.
In another case, a Tampa exploration company has been ordered by the courts to return $500 million worth of treasure from a Spanish warship to Spain. The ship was sunk by the British navy during a battle off Portugal in 1804.
[H/T Business Insider]
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Comments (53)
ZABO
Posted on February 3, 2012 at 6:17amlet’s see if the britts get it. it will go to those leftest a-holes in the u.k. that just happen to be lazy. and if this guy gets it i’m sure that pig named BLOWBAMA will try to give it to the lazy pigs in this country. NOTE to tresure hunters just shut up and pull that little money bag up in the middle of the night. or better yet just shut your trap. in a time of need the lazy’s come out of the woodwork. JUST LIKE BLOWBAMA LAZY. and that word came out of his mouth first.
Report Post »RagingJudge
Posted on February 3, 2012 at 12:40pmAgreed. Like mobsters, I bet the smartest treasure hunters are the one‘s we’ve never heard of.
I wouldn’t say anything if it were me. Anyone trying to claim the treasure is just trying to leech off of someone else’s work. It’s been sitting down there since 1942 and no country has made a real effort to claim what was lost. The Soviets don’t even exist anymore (at least not in name), so the Russians can’t possibly claim a rightful ownership. The Brits don’t deserve it because the SHIP was their property, not the platinum. The US is the only nation left, and they were already reimbursed for that lost platinum, so they cannot claim it as theirs either. Maybe if the Soviets were still around they could, but they’re not, so this guy and his team should keep it all.
Report Post »Pat Alexander
Posted on February 3, 2012 at 5:26amI don’t think the government will bother him.
They don’t think a few billion $$ is real money anymore…
Report Post »grannyrecipe
Posted on February 3, 2012 at 4:38amNo problem if the Brits try to come after the platinum, just charge them 3 billion for time and materials for the recovery effort…hey it’s all business.
Report Post »welovetheUSA
Posted on February 3, 2012 at 2:59amGood Luck……………don’t let the british get any of it, they will spend it on more entitlements.
Report Post »rclubbe
Posted on February 3, 2012 at 5:02pmThey need to spend it on dental work!
Report Post »tmplarnite
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 11:34pmI hope he found the right ship full of $3 Billion in Platinum bars…but he better beat the bank..first… go down and get part of the ship… first… claim it that before he claims the treasure or the bank will beat him.
Report Post »concealled9mms
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 11:31pmi dont know about you folks but if it was me that found this wreck nobody would know why open your mouth and fight for the rights for years, get in get what you can, remelt repour and sell keeping your mouth shut ,you know the gov will be there with there grubby hands out for a cut screw the gov
Report Post »jasmer
Posted on February 3, 2012 at 7:51amSpot on. Why anyone would entertain the corruptocrat “legal” attitude is beyond me.
A measly 10% “finder’s fee” after going through all the trouble and expense of recovery? What part of “sunken treasure” do these SoB’s not understand?
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 10:56pm.
Will you Adopt Me?……….
I’ll be a Good Monkey………
Report Post »Delores at CH WV
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 10:27pmWhy put your money, life, and time on the line for treasure if you cannot keep. Afterall, the lives of the crew have much value to their families. A family member is worth more than gold, silver, and other treasures. These countries shouldn’t get a dime ir they were not in the deal to find it and bring it up! What the sea gives up should be given to the seeker!
Report Post »shogun459
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 10:56pmSalvage Right:
Report Post »The Owner of the cargo gets the cargo back
BUT
the salvager is paid a percentage of the value of the recovered property.
There is of course some legal fine print in this the it is essentually what happens.
Saves company’s and Governments money and time (years).
BUSHMASTER 223
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 11:10pmThe treasure hunter shoulda kept his mouth shut! Loose lips lose ships.
Report Post »ALL4FREEDOM
Posted on February 3, 2012 at 12:34amDelores, re-read your first sentence and you will know why socialism never works.
Report Post »gemmeri
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 9:08pmI’m sure I must have a surviving relative who was injured in that shipwreck somewhere & they must be entitled to a settlement somehow…
Report Post »spirited
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 9:04pmWishing Greg Brooks the best of luck!
Report Post »smokeyridgerunner
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 10:31pmBuy the time Obama get’s through he will take it all.
Report Post »crackerone
Posted on February 3, 2012 at 7:32amWell it was a ship! And ships were used in the slave trade! So it is a no brainer…….reparations!
Report Post »AB5r
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 8:44pmNow nearly all payments are made via electronic transfers, won’t have this sort of thing in the future.
Report Post »dr emil shuffhausen
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 8:43pmPoor guy should have just started a car company, failed, and asked for a bailout… a lot less complicated!
Report Post »flatbroke
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 8:33pmIf i would have found it, I would have kept my mouth shut, gotten the loot off the ocean floor, and quietly lived off of and spent it wisely. just a tip!
Report Post »Freedom Keeper
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 8:30pmOle Glory NEWS http://oleglorynews.com/
Report Post »Col. HawK
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 8:28pmCongratulations….. Unbelievable…. you just found 3 Billions dollars…. WOW!….. I have Ideas to get it to the surface….. CHeers’
Report Post »THXll38
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 8:21pmI would think keeping your mouth shut on something like this would the key.
Report Post »TheObamanation
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 8:20pmThat‘s Obama’s stash !
Report Post »idarusskie
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 8:10pmthis explains why in so many old treasure tails The treasure never has been found. People finding them and keep their mouths shut.
Report Post »COFemale
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 8:06pmWhat happened to finders keepers?
If I was a treasure hunter, I’d keep my mouth shut until after I made provisions to keep everything. If a ship is found, regardless of nationality, is owned by the finder.
Report Post »jb.kibs
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 8:16pmi would keep my mouth shut too, are you kidding?
finders keepers does exist….
this pretty much proves that we are slaves.
slaves can not own themselves or own property. you can have what master lets you have.
and master knows how to give just enough to not let slave revolt.
wake up slaves… wake up please for the love of God…
Report Post »ask yourselves this, “Do I own myself and my property, or not?”
beekeeper
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 8:05pmWould this be taxed at the 15% or 30% tax rate?
He might want to retrieve the cargo before the “Buffett Rule” goes into effect…
Report Post »skitrees
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 8:00pmThese stories are so depressing….
Sadly, in America we are about to lose our freedom, and we will be incapable of finding it/recovering it; and if we’re too stupid/can’t get it back – we can’t really expect anyone else who finds it to give it to us.
Report Post »goodgrubguy
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 8:00pmWait, that was my ship! That booty is mine!
Report Post »progressiveslayer
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 7:52pmIf the man gets the platinum you can be sure the feds will get their cut for all the risk they took to find the treasure.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 7:52pmThis is the Hole in the Capitalist System: Found or Recovered Value which generates Wealth!
Report Post »TriforcePlayer2
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 7:51pmVetty interesting
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