Sunken ships aren’t just reserved for the film “Titanic,” as divers risk their lives on a daily basis to uncover treasures at the bottom of the ocean. It’s both fascinating and scary to see what one can discover and a company in Korea is claiming they found something significant.
They’re claiming that they found a Russian warship housing billions of dollars worth of gold. But can they prove it? Here’s what we know so far…
Dmitrii Donskoi
Just recently, Shinil Group, a recently founded company based in Seoul, released submarine footage of what’s believed to be the shipwreck of the Dmitrii Donskoi, a Russian cruiser that vanished 113 years ago. The ship went down during the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese war off an eastern Korean island.
Russian Ship
The company is speculating that Donskoi may have carried 200 tons of gold bars and coins that might be worth $132 billion, although it’s unclear how they came to those estimates. According to the Associated Press, the Bank of Korea’s 104 tons of gold reserves are valued at around $4.8 billion, which makes this number seem like an overvaluation…
Shinil Group
The Shinil Group, a South Korean treasure hunting company was only found in June 2018 and still has not applied to South Korea’s Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries for the salvage rights. They announced the sunken Russian warship was found 1,400 feet below the surface, and 1 mile off the South Korean island of Ulleungdo.
A Frenzy
The claims that the ship was carrying an enormous amount of gold has sparked a frenzy and Shinil released photos and videos taken by search submarines, which showed markings on the stern the company said was the ship’s name in Russian. What’s odd, however, is the discovery of the shipwreck doesn’t appear to be new…
Other Companies Making Claims
A government-run South Korean institute says it found the wreck in 2003, detecting no traces of gold boxes. Other companies have made similar claims, but no one has taken steps towards raising the wreck.
Stock Rises
One of the companies, Dong-Ah Construction, was accused of spreading false rumors to bump up its stock prices and they later went bankrupt. Although Shinil is unlisted, its president recently agreed to acquire shares in a local company, Jeil Steel…
Suspicions
To add to the rising suspicions, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said that shares of Jeil Steel, in which both current and former heads of Shinil bought stakes in July 2018, has seen rising prices since May. The value of the shares jumped a whopping 139 percent after the “treasure ship” claim.
Denied Any Relation
But, according to the Associated Press, Jeil said it has “no relation to the treasure ship business,” and that’s when their stock prices dropped more than 20%. These circumstances raise possible suspicions of stock price manipulation or unfair trade using undisclosed information, said an official…
A Company Already Went Bankrupt Over This Before
“Investors should beware because it’s uncertain whether the ship is salvageable and whether Shinil would be able to gain ownership of the assets even if it gets permission to raise it,” a South Korean official told the AP. “Dong-Ah Construction made similar claims over the same ship but failed to deliver on its promises and went bankrupt, causing huge losses for investors.”
A “Watchdog”
FSS Governor Yoon Suk-heun also said that a “watchdog” is investigating related “cryptocurrency issues.” A website under Shinil Group’s name even links the find to a “Donskoi International” cryptocurrency exchange that claims it will hand out its virtual currency to anyone who signed up with the exchange…
Cryptocurrency
According to ABC News, Shinil Marine denied any connection with the cryptocurrency, saying the exchange was run by a different company with the same name. It’s reported that a photo number on the cryptocurrency exchange’s website led to the company in July.
They’ll Prove It?
To prove they are telling the truth, Shinil is willing to comply with a South Korean demand to pay at least 10 percent of the ship’s estimated value as a deposit before recovery operations can start. If the government bases its calculations on the company’s $132 billion claims, Shinil would have to deposit at least $13.2 billion.
What The Warship Carried
It is still unclear how much they would be allowed to keep if any possible gold is found in the shipwreck, but some experts are saying that it is unlikely the Donskoi would have had room for 200 tons of gold. The warship reportedly had more than 12 artillery pieces, 500 sailors and 1,600 tons of coal.
Speculatory
Russian scholars have said in the past that it was unlikely Russia would have put so much gold on a single ship and it must have been safer to transport it by train. They did, however, believe that some gold coins could have been aboard the ship to pay the salaries of Russian navy officers…
There Will Be Issues With Ownership
A South Korean financial ministry official responsible for sorting out the issue believes that Russia may be able to claim ownership. However, even if the ship is found, the ownership of the treasure will likely be disputed. Still, suspicion of Shinil Group extends beyond which company has the right to salvage the ship.
Fake Photos?
Korean Broadcasting System, KBS, said that some of Shinil Group’s photo uploads were nearly identical to screen grabs from the “Titanic.” Another picture of the Donskoi was the same as one provided by the Korean government’s ocean science institute in 2003, except the institute logo was removed…
The Stats
What’s also interesting is that hundreds of companies throughout the world specialize in sourcing the ocean for treasure and they’ve discovered as many as 3 million sunken ships, according to UNESCO. But, less than 5,000 of those ships are believed to hold substantial amounts of valuables.
Potential Lawsuits
If there is gold on the sunken ship, it’s likely that the finding would encourage lawsuits by countries claiming they deserve a share. Determining who keeps these treasures is rather complicated, according to the Washington Post, and they say there’s no straightforward answer…
Treasure Hunting
However, the first step for officials would be the timeline. The individuals who owned the ship wouldn’t be alive anymore, so the ship would fall into the “treasure hunting” category. But countries may claim parts of the treasures if the ships that carried them were state-owned or if the discoveries were made near territorial waters.
Astonishing Treasure Finds
If there is in fact 200 tons of gold on the ship, it could be one of the world’s most astonishing treasure finds in recent history. It is still unclear if Shinil will receive South Korean government approval of its salvage plans.
