109 tons of silver recovered from WWII wreck SS Gairsoppa

The salvage company Odyssey Marine Exploration has unearthed nearly 2,800 bars of bullion in the last two years. Divers have recovered a total of 109 tons of silver worth $36 million from the wreck of the British freighter SS Gairsoppa. The zivler is now in a safe location in Great Britain.

In 1941, the SS Gairsoppa sailed from Calcutta in India to Liverpool with a cargo of silver, raw iron and tea. During this voyage, the ship was torpedoed by a German submarine a few hundred kilometres off the Irish coast. The wreck lies at a depth of 4700 meters at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. 

The SS Gairsoppa was discovered by Oddyssey Marine in 2011 and was given permission to salvage the silver from the wreckage. Last year, 1218 silver bars were found and in recent weeks there have been another 1574. It is estimated that 99 percent of the Gairsoppa's silver holdings have been salvaged.

The silver represented a value of $630,000 in 1941; It is now estimated to be worth $36 million. The salvage company is allowed to pocket 80 percent of the proceeds, the rest is for the British Treasury. 

Source: nos.nl