48 Tons Of Silver Recovered From Wwii Merchant Ship

48 tons of silver recovered from WWII merchant ship < br />

2012-07-20 07:23:52 GMT+7 (ICT)

TAMPA, FLORIDA (BNO NEWS) -- Odyssey Marine Exploration on Wednesday announced it has recovered approximately 48 tons of silver bullion from a British cargo ship that sank off the Irish coast during World War II.

The bullion was recovered from the SS Gairsoppa, a 412-foot steel-hulled British cargo ship that sank in February 1941, at a depth of approximately three miles, some 300 miles off the Irish coast in the Atlantic Ocean.

In total, the deep-ocean exploration company said it recovered 1,203 silver bars or approximately 1.4 million troy ounces of silver, which has been transported to a secure facility in the United Kingdom (UK), as the project is under contract with the UK Department for Transport.

According to Odyssey, the recovery marks a record-breaking operation that has so far produced the heaviest and deepest recovery of precious metals from a shipwreck.

However, research indicates that more silver is expected to be found since the amount of silver bars recovered so far represents approximately 43 percent of the insured silver bars, or approximately 20 percent of the total silver cargo. In addition, an estimated 600,000 ounces of insured silver is also expected to be found on the SS Mantola, a second modern shipwreck recovery project being conducted in conjunction with the Gairsoppa project.

Serial numbers and other markings from the silver bars recovered to date all match the contemporary insured silver cargo documentation therefore it is anticipated that the entire insured amount is aboard. However, it is unknown at this point whether there is additional uninsured silver on the site.


The Gairsoppa was a merchant ship torpedoed by a German U-boat during World War II. During the War, the UK Government insured privately owned cargo under their War Risk Insurance program.

After making an insurance payment of approximately £325,000 (1941 value) to the owners of the silver cargo lost aboard the Gairsoppa, the UK Government became the owners of the insured cargo. As some sources, including 'Lloyd's War Losses' indicate a total silver cargo worth £600,000 (1941 value) lost aboard the Gairsoppa, there may have been additional government-owned silver cargo aboard that would have been self-insured.

Under the terms of the agreement, which follows standard commercial practices, Odyssey bears the risk of search and recovery and retains 80% of the net salved value of the Gairsoppa silver cargo after recovering its expenses.

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