The vast ocean contains many mysteries, including huge treasures like in fairy tales. Below are 10 shipwrecks containing the most startling treasures ever found in the world.
It is believed that there are about 3 million shipwrecks scattered offshore. Finding shipwrecks carrying treasure takes a lot of time, effort and luck. For a long time, the journey to find these “billion dollar” shipwrecks has attracted many archaeologists, explorers, divers, and treasure hunters around the world…
Belitung shipwreck worth 80 million dollars (1,777 billion VND)
The Belitung shipwreck was found off the coast of Indonesia in 1998 and was the first ancient Arab ship to be found and salvaged. The treasures found on the ship included spice jars, gilded objects, many precious stones including rubies, sapphires, and the largest number of golden cups ever found.
Soon after the ship was found and salvaged, it was acquired by the Singapore Government. The Belitung ship was a large Arab merchant ship that followed the maritime route from Africa to China to buy goods in 830.
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The ship completed its journey but sank when returning. People also do not understand why the ship got lost on Belitung Island, Indonesia. On board there are also many artifacts made during the Tang Dynasty. Belitung is also the shipwreck containing the largest number of Tang Dynasty artifacts ever found.
“Golden ship” SS. Central America is worth 100-150 million dollars (2,222 – 3,333 billion VND)
In September 1857, during a storm, the ship SS. Central America was sunk while transporting 15 tons of gold. This incident is said to be one of the causes of the 1857 crisis in America and contributed to the first world economic crisis in history. The ship was discovered and salvaged in 1987.
During the process of salvaging the ship, 39 insurance companies claimed the gold and artifacts found as theirs because in the 19th century, all of these companies were legally liable to the ship. the ship and had to pay for the damages that occurred.
After the inevitable legal battle, the search team that discovered the ship was eventually awarded 92% of the gold recovered. A 36kg gold bar was later sold for a record price of 8 million dollars and once set a record as the world’s largest valuable block of circulating gold.
The Antikythera shipwreck is worth 120-160 million dollars (2,666 – 3,555 billion VND)
The Antikythera shipwreck led to the world’s first underwater archaeological expedition. In 1900, divers from the Greek Archaeological Service company found the shipwreck. However, people failed to salvage the most important part of the ship.
It was not until 1976 that another expedition team recovered the Antikythera ship’s engine, which is considered the world’s oldest analog computer. Although the ship contained many treasures, the ship’s engine received so much attention from the media that people forgot about the other treasures also found on the ship.
Such as ceramic vases, glassware, jewelry, statues, coins and cushioned chairs embroidered with bronze thread… The Statue of Youth is the best known statue among the statues recovered from the Antikythera ship. The bronze statue, dating from 340-330 BC, is currently on display with other artifacts at the Greek Archaeological Museum.
The SS Republic shipwreck is worth 120-180 million dollars (2,666 – 4,000 billion VND)
The SS Republic shipwreck was found by the Odyssey company, a very famous ocean exploration company in the field of searching for undersea treasure. The SS Republic lay deep at the bottom of the sea for more than 230 years before being found and salvaged. The ship sank in a storm in 1865 off the coast of Georgia, USA.
Nearly 14,000 artifacts and more than 51,000 American gold and silver coins were found. Other treasures include thousands of glass and ceramic items. Like many other sunken boats carrying “treasure” that have been found, immediately after the treasure was recovered, lawsuits immediately followed to fight for ownership.
A man sued Odyssey for using his information in locating the shipwreck. The court later decided in favor of Odyssey and in 2004 the company was allowed to legally own the SS Republic.
The Bom Jesus shipwreck (still being evaluated)
This shipwreck did not require any salvage equipment, the wreck itself drifted onto the deserted beach and lay buried in the sand. Geologists working for the gem mining company De Beers were very lucky to accidentally find the ship without any effort. They themselves were also very surprised and shocked.
The Bom Jesus shipwreck remains the oldest shipwreck ever found on the African coast. On the wreck, people found a treasure that had been kept for centuries. More than 22 gold bars were found along with 6 cannons, many weapons and more than 50 pieces of ivory and thousands of gold coins minted during the reign of King Joao III of Portugal.
Subsequent investigations showed that this was indeed the Portuguese ship named Bom Jesus, which had set sail in 1533 but never returned.
The “British treasure” ship SS Garisoppa is worth 200 million dollars (4,444 billion VND)
After being torpedoed by the Germans, the British ship SS Garisoppa was sunk in 1941 offshore. The amount of goods this ship transported at that time was about 200,000 kg of silver. The unit that found and salvaged this ship was once again the ocean exploration company Odyssey.
Whydah Gally ship is worth 400 million dollars (8,888 billion VND)
The Whydah Gally is a very special ship, it is both the only pirate ship ever found and belongs to the richest pirate crew, led by pirate captain “Black Sam” Bellamy.
This ship was originally a slave ship. After the pirates controlled the ship, Captain Bellamy immediately forced those on the slave ship to board an old ship of his to continue the journey. Bellamy’s gang immediately took over the ship Whydah Gally.
The Whydah Gally shipwreck was found in 1984 by Barry Clifford. This man spent years searching for the ship and finally luck smiled. The treasure contained on the Whydah Gally is so much that to this day people are still continuing the search and salvage effort.
Up to now, people have collected more than 200,000 precious items including gold jewelry, gold coins, cannons… Now, these artifacts are displayed around the world on tour. The exhibition is sponsored by the National Geographic Society called “Real Pirates”.
The Atocha shipwreck is worth 450 million dollars (10,000 billion VND)
Nuestra Senora de Atocha carried such a large volume of cargo that it took two months to load it onto the ship. Perhaps it was for this reason that the ship sank. Atocha sank off the coast of Florida, USA in 1622. All the gold, silver, copper, indigo dyes for fabrics and many other jewelry and gems sank to the bottom of the ocean.
The Spanish tried very hard to salvage this ship, but the ocean is truly a cruel and unjust monster, it can give treasure to whoever it likes and forever close its doors even to who have spent a lot of effort searching.
Finally, a man named Mel Fisher succeeded after diving for nearly 17 years to search for the ship and finally found it. Atocha was found in July 1985 and people are still salvaging this ship’s treasures to this day.
Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes shipwreck is worth 500 million dollars (11,111 billion VND)
This is the largest shipwreck and also contains the most “huge” wealth. After being discovered and salvaged in 2007 by the Odyssey company (this company hardly misses any “treasure” shipwreck hunting missions), 17 tons of coins were found lying there. on a ship off the coast of Gibraltar.
All coins were recovered and taken to a secret location in the US. Initially, the Odyssey company thought they could enjoy this entire fortune, but the Spanish Government later requested legal intervention when they believed that this was the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes ship they had been looking for. been looking for so long. The ship was sunk by the British in 1804.
In 2008, the US federal court required the Odyssey company to provide information surrounding the shipwreck. All the information provided by Odyssey shows that this is the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes ship, so after 5 years of litigation, the court finally decided that the found treasure must be returned to Spain.
