Sunken ship could hold billions in platinum

[Phidippides]

A merchant ship, sunk off the eastern coast of the U.S. in 1942, has been found and could hold a fortune in platinum bars and other goodies:

Brooks said the Port Nicholson was headed for New York with 71 tons of platinum valued at the time at about $53 million when it was sunk in an attack that left six people dead. The platinum was a payment from the Soviet Union to the U.S. for war supplies, Brooks said. The vessel was also carrying gold bullion and diamonds, he said.

Treasure hunter says he found $3B WWII wreck

Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

[scout1067]

Uncle Sam will not let him keep it.  I would be willing to bet on that.  If the ship was a Merchant Marine vessel then it and its contents still belong to the US just like sunken warships.

[Phidippides]

With today's government, that would especially not be surprising.  In the article, the author (granted, not an expert) said that since the U.S. was originally compensated by Russia it had not staked a claim to the vessel.

[scout1067]

The US government has a permanent claim to the wreckage of any US government vessel afloat or under the water regardless of whether an official claim has been made or not.  They are considered government property and taking anything from a wreck without permission is considered theft and piracy.  All artifacts raised remain the property of the government although they may be loaned to museums whether public or private.  That has been government policy and law since at least the War of 1812 that I am aware of.  The guys who found the wreck can try to weasel out of any way they can but they wont get away from that.

It was a huge deal a few years ago when a WWII American sub was found in the Pacific somewhere.  If I remember it right, the Bush administration went so far as to subtly threaten war against Micronesia if they didn't relinquish claim to the wreck.  Micronesia was asserting sovereignty because the wreck was in their waters.  The us considers sunken warships not only their property but protected grave-sites as well.

[skiguy]

The US government has a permanent claim to the wreckage of any US government vessel afloat or under the water regardless of whether an official claim has been made or not. 

Isn't this a British ship though?

[Phidippides]

Yes, it is a British ship, somewhere off the U.S. coast, originating in the Soviet Union, carrying payment destined for the U.S.  I am guessing that sooner or later, someone is going to claim the $3 billion worth of platinum (probably the Russians).  Perhaps they are just waiting for the salvage company to verify the contents of the ship.  From what it seems like, there is some question about what the ship was actually transporting.

[scout1067]

If I remember correctly, the British make pretty much the same claims to British ships as we do to American ones.  The salvage guys are probably playing with fire on this one, especially given the economy and prevailing political climate.