Odyssey Marine finds ?150m silver haul on wrecked British ship
A shipwreck containing 200 tonnes of silver worth about £150m has been found in the Atlantic - the largest haul of precious metal ever discovered at sea, BBC reports.
The SS Gairsoppa, a UK cargo ship sunk by a German U-boat in 1941, was found by US exploration firm Odyssey Marine.
The firm will retain 80% of the cargo's value under the terms of a contract with the Department for Transport.
Only one person from the 85-strong crew survived the torpedo attack as the ageing steamer tried to reach Ireland.
The vessel was on its way back to Britain from India when it ran low on fuel in stormy weather, and tried to divert to Galway harbour, but it was spotted and sunk by the German submarine.
Odyssey Marine's senior project manager, Andrew Craig, said: "We've accomplished the first phase of this project - the location and identification of the target shipwreck.
"Now we're hard at work planning for the recovery phase.
"Given the orientation and condition of the shipwreck, we are extremely confident that our planned salvage operation will be well suited for the recovery of this silver cargo."
The SS Gairsoppa, a UK cargo ship sunk by a German U-boat in 1941, was found by US exploration firm Odyssey Marine.
The firm will retain 80% of the cargo's value under the terms of a contract with the Department for Transport.
Only one person from the 85-strong crew survived the torpedo attack as the ageing steamer tried to reach Ireland.
The vessel was on its way back to Britain from India when it ran low on fuel in stormy weather, and tried to divert to Galway harbour, but it was spotted and sunk by the German submarine.
Odyssey Marine's senior project manager, Andrew Craig, said: "We've accomplished the first phase of this project - the location and identification of the target shipwreck.
"Now we're hard at work planning for the recovery phase.
"Given the orientation and condition of the shipwreck, we are extremely confident that our planned salvage operation will be well suited for the recovery of this silver cargo."