Post by Administrator on Jan 26, 2021 18:21:36 GMT
British treasure hunter who salvaged 2,364 South African silver bars worth £32MILLION from torpedoed WW2 cargo ship off the Maldives could be left with nothing in court battle.
Ross Hyett, 67, brought the long-lost silver bars back to Southampton in 2017
He had spent two years planning and carrying out the treasure hunting mission
The £32 million of silver was recovered from the SS Tilawa of Maldives coast
The South African government is battling Mr Hyett in court over the silver bars
Ross Hyett, 67, successfully led a treasure-hunting mission to recover 2,364 South Africa-owned bars of silver from the wreck of the SS Tilawa off the coast of the Maldives.
The ship was a Tyneside-built 10,000-ton steamer that had been taking mostly Indian nationals to South Africa in 1942 with 954 people onboard. Its cargo included 2,391 bars of silver, purchased by the South African government and destined to be turned into coins in their national mint.
But en-route from Bombay to Durban, the ship was sunk by two Japanese torpedoes fired from a submarine off the coast of the Maldives in November 1942.
A nearby British ship, HMS Birmingham, came to its rescue but 281 people died while the wreck sunk to the bottom of the ocean.
Of the silver bars on board, 2,364 were salvaged and brought back to Southampton over 70 years later by Mr Hyett's treasure-hunting company, Argentum Exploration Ltd.
LINK
Ross Hyett, 67, brought the long-lost silver bars back to Southampton in 2017
He had spent two years planning and carrying out the treasure hunting mission
The £32 million of silver was recovered from the SS Tilawa of Maldives coast
The South African government is battling Mr Hyett in court over the silver bars
Ross Hyett, 67, successfully led a treasure-hunting mission to recover 2,364 South Africa-owned bars of silver from the wreck of the SS Tilawa off the coast of the Maldives.
The ship was a Tyneside-built 10,000-ton steamer that had been taking mostly Indian nationals to South Africa in 1942 with 954 people onboard. Its cargo included 2,391 bars of silver, purchased by the South African government and destined to be turned into coins in their national mint.
But en-route from Bombay to Durban, the ship was sunk by two Japanese torpedoes fired from a submarine off the coast of the Maldives in November 1942.
A nearby British ship, HMS Birmingham, came to its rescue but 281 people died while the wreck sunk to the bottom of the ocean.
Of the silver bars on board, 2,364 were salvaged and brought back to Southampton over 70 years later by Mr Hyett's treasure-hunting company, Argentum Exploration Ltd.
LINK