Warship ‘carrying $130 bln in gold’ found 113 years after sinking
ULLEUNGDO
A sunken Russian warship believed to contain $130 billion in gold bullion and coins has been found off the coast of a South Korean island — 113 years after it was scuttled during the Russo-Japanese War, several reports said.
A joint team including South Korean, British and Canadian explorers on July 15 found the wreck of the Dmitrii Donskoi more than 1,400 feet below sea level and a mile off the coast of the South Korean island of Ulleungdo, CNBC and The Telegraph reported on July 18.
There are reports that the Dmitrii Donskoi, which was scuttled during the Russo-Japanese war in 1905, went down with 5,500 boxes of gold bars and coins still in its holds to stop the Japanese seizing it. Setting sail in 1885, the armored cruiser served in the Mediterranean and the Baltic before heading to the Pacific.
The Seoul-based Shinil Group, which led the exploration that found the ship, hopes to raise it in October or November. It estimates the gold would have a value today of around $130 billion.
Companies have claimed in the past to have found the wreck, amid historic rumors of treasure on board, as reported by BBC.
But no proof exists that the ship carried gold, with academics raising doubts that a warship would carry such valuable cargo.
Shinil Group told BBC Korean that they would hold a press conference soon to explain all doubts, and that salvage will take “about three months.”
