The SS Gairsoppa 1941

SS Gairsoppa Currently unauthorized re-posting

Odyssey Marine Exploration (NASDAQ CM:OMEX) announced on Tuesday that it had successfully retrieved 1,574 silver ingots weighing 80 pounds each for a total of almost 1.8 million troy ounces in total in July. Each 80 pound ingot at $20.00 oz (July 2013) is worth about $25,600.

The recoveries were made from a depth of 4.7 kilometers or some 3 miles below the ocean's surface, setting the record for the deepest and largest precious metals recovery from a shipwreck in history.

The 412-foot steel-hulled British merchant steam ship is situated a full kilometer deeper than the Titanic shipwreck. Odyssey's latest dive brings the Florida-based company's total haul to 2,792 silver ingots weighing 110 US tons (99.8 metric tonnes) or nearly 3.2 million troy ounces found aboard the SS Gairsoppa which was torpedoed approximately 300 miles southwest of Ireland by a German U-boat in February 1941.

The Gairsoppa was traveling from Calcutta in India (the bars were minted in what is now called Mumbai) to Liverpool, England.

According to the manifest, three lots of the insured cargo contained .917 fine silver ingots, and all of the silver recovered in 2012 was from these three lots.

The silver bars thus far recovered now comprise some 99% of the insured silver bars, although sources, including Lloyd’s Record of War Losses, indicate more uninsured government-owned silver may have been aboard the Gairsoppa when she sank.None of the uninsured cargo has been located, according to an Odyssey press statement.

New technologies for the recovery of sunken ships and cargo include tethered robots, lights and claws capable of withstanding the immense pressure of ocean depths, and computers capable of remote coordination.

Recovery is conducted aboard the Seabed Worker, which is equipped with specialized tools capable of surgically cutting through steel decks and which have the flexibility to remove cargo from tight spaces. Odyssey is retrieving bullion from the shipwreck as part of an agreement with the UK's Department of Transportation, under which the company independently bears the risk of search and retrieval while retaining 80% of the net salved value of silver cargo following recovery of expenses.

The contract to locate the ship and recover the silver was awarded following a competitive bid process in 2011.

According to CNBC - http://www.cnbc.com/id/100903743 "This is the heaviest amount of precious cargo ever recovered from the deepest depth," Odyssey's president Mark Gordon told "Squawk on the Street" on Monday. The wreck is the SS Gairsoppa, a 412-foot, steel-hulled British ship that sank in February 1941. It now sits nearly three miles below the ocean's surface. Odyssey said that it has recovered a total of 2,792 silver ingots, or 110 tons, from the site since 2012, including 1,574 ingots in the most recent recovery. Each ingot weighs about 1,100 ounces.

"It's obviously a high-risk venture." Gordon said. "We invest millions of dollars on the front end before we know that we're going to have a success." He expects that Odyssey's portion of the proceeds (which must be split with the U.K. government) will be invested in future projects.

Odyssey said that 99 percent of the insured silver believed to be on Gairsoppa has been recovered. According to its contract with the U.K. government, the company will retain 80 percent of the salvaged cargo's value. The cargo has been transported to a secure location in the U.K.

Odyssey said that it used remotely operated vehicles, heavy launch and recovery systems and other specialized deep-ocean equipment. Gordon pointed to a United Nations estimate that 3 million shipwrecks remain and said that their cargo represents "billions of dollars lying on the sea floor." "This is our fourth or fifth success," Gordon said. "This is what we do." Though he said earnings were "episodic" by nature of Odyssey's operations, he added that the company has "a portfolio of projects that will continue to yield these returns."

Odyssey hedges its positions in the commodities that it recovers. The price of silver has risen since the announcement, making the find increasingly valuable.

For the actual story see: http://www.mining.com/salvage-company-hauls-60-tons-of-silver-from-ww2-shipwreck-97929/
(Related slideshow: Cursed and haunted treasures)
(Related: Trial of Costa Concordia captain resumes in Italy)