Long gone silver set for high-seas salvage

A BRITISH cargo ship carrying silver worth £135 million has been located deep in the North Atlantic 70 years after it was sunk by a Nazi torpedo, paving the way for the largest ever haul of precious metal from the sea bed.

Marine archaeologists from Odyssey Marine Exploration, a shipwreck salvage company based in Florida, found the SS Gairsoppa resting almost three miles beneath the surface of the ocean, with 200 tonnes of silver stashed in its hold.

An ambitious operation to bring the treasure to the surface will begin next Spring when weather conditions should be at their least challenging, with 20 per cent of the silver’s value going to the British government and 80 per cent to the salvagers.

“We were fortunate to find the shipwreck sitting upright, with the holds open and easily accessible. This should enable us to unload the cargo through the hatches as would happen with a floating ship alongside a cargo terminal,” said Greg Stemm, Odyssey marine’s chief executive.

SS Gairsoppa, a 412ft steel-hulled steamer, was enlisted in the service of the UK Ministry of War Transport during the Second World War. It was carrying silver, pig iron and tea to Britain from Calcutta, India, when it was ambushed by a German U-boat 300 miles south-west of Ireland, after splitting from a convoy due to low fuel.

Most of the 84 crew were lost with the ship and a handful made it into a lifeboat. Three evacuee schoolgirls, out walking along a cliff-top above Caerthillian Cove, Cornwall, 13 days later saw the lifeboat being driven towards shore, out of control, before it capsized in the surf, dashing the crewmen against the rocks along the shoreline. One of the girls ran for help and the lone survivor, second officer Richard Ayres, was pulled from the water by a farmworker.

Mr Ayres was later awarded an MBE for his attempts to rescue his fellow seamen. He died in 1992.

In 2010, the UK government awarded Odyssey Marine an exclusive contract to salvage the SS Gairsoppa’s cargo.

The company is well known in marine circles for locating, exploring and salvaging deep-ocean shipwrecks. Past work has included the discovery in 2008 of the wreck of HMS Victory, a Royal Navy flagship that sank off England during a storm in 1744 and was noted as one of the greatest warships of the 18th century.

Marine experts have explored the site using unmanned remote-controlled rovers, which recorded footage showing the wreck sitting upright on the seabed, gnarled by rust and weathering but still sporting a gleaming brass compass now inhabited by sea urchins.

Underwater images also show the hole where the German torpedo shot through, exposing a bathroom.

Currently trading at $30.10 an ounce – the silver aboard the ship is worth $210m, though if melted down to make commemorative coins, would be worth even more. Weighing 200 tons, it is the largest ever haul of precious metal found on a shipwreck in terms of weight, though by value it is eclipsed by Odyssey’s retrieval of $500m worth of gold and silver coins from the Black Swan.

Mr Stemm said yesterday that the company had developed a “great relationship” with the British government – one of several national governments that have contracted its services to try to swell Treasury coffers.

“With economic debacles, and riots in the street in London and Greece, these governments are desperately looking for new sources of income and these projects we put on the table provide them income at no taxpayer risk and take advantage of long lost assets,” he said.

Neil Cunningham, Odyssey’s principal marine archaeologist, is the son of a merchant mariner who worked for the same shipping line as the Gairsoppa’s.

He said: “Even though records indicate that the lifeboats were launched before the ship sank, sadly most of her crew did not survive the long journey to shore. By finding this shipwreck, and telling the story of its loss, we pay tribute to the brave merchant sailors who lost their lives,” he said.