Ever dreamed of discovering lost treasure stashed away by some long-forgotten pirate captain? Well, even if you did, it turns out that finders are not always keepers. This past week, the South African government won a landmark case against a salvage company which had recovered R750 million in silver bars in the Indian Ocean.
The silver came from the shipwreck of the SS Tilawa, a cargo ship that sailed from India to Durban in 1942 but was sunk by a Japanese submarine on the way. The treasure, which had been purchased by the South African government at the time, was lost to the ocean depths – along with poor 281 souls on board. It was one of India’s greatest maritime disasters.
In 2017, Argentum Exploration, financed by UK hedge fund manager Paul Marshall, managed to raise the silver from the wreckage, which had sunk to a depth of 2.5 kilometres below the surface of the ocean, not far from the Seychelles. They took it to England, where they tried to claim the reward under maritime law for recovering what they believed to be British property. But this past week, the UK Supreme Court found for South Africa. In fact, the salvagers aren’t even due a finders fee. Ouch!
Why, you ask? While salvagers are entitled to compensation for found treasure (or even wreckage) under international maritime law, our government successfully claimed immunity as the silver was not being transported for commercial purposes.
However, the judgement also noted that the two parties had reached a secret agreement before it was handed down. 🤔
While this was a bitter blow to the expedition’s funders, this treasure was only found due to recent technological advances. This means that previously inaccessible parts of the ocean are now open to human exploration. Who knows what other lost treasures lie out in the ocean depths, awaiting discovery?
