Fact Or Fiction?...

[jeff k]

I came across this old PR, but have no idea what ship they're talking about. Does anyone have any info on a ship that sunk in the Caribbean in the early 70's with 33 tons of gold bullion? Sounds like a ghost ship to me.

TAMPA, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 9, 1997--Seahawk Deep Ocean Technology (OTC BB:SDOT - news), the Tampa-based oceanographic company that specializes in the search and recovery of deep water shipwrecks, announced Tuesday that it has entered into an agreement to search for a shipwreck which sank in the Caribbean Sea less than 25 years ago and with a reported cargo of over 33 tons of gold bullion.

Seahawk will participate in the project together with its joint venture partners, Brown House and Discovery International of Turks and Caicos. The company will have a share in any successfully recovered gold together with its partners. Under the terms of the agreement Seahawk is also contracted to provide all the search and identification services which will include the company's customized research vessel, R/V Seahawk, outfitted with side scan sonar and remotely operated vehicles capable of operating in water depths of 3000 feet. The R/V Seahawk has recently been fully refurbished ready for this project. The vessel will sail from Tampa on Dec. 10, 1997.

 

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[lamar]

Dear JeffK;
it may be the ship, codenamed the Blue Baron, which was sunk off of Guyana by two German torpedoes. It's recently been located and a salvage ship in under way to attempt recovery ops.
Your friend;
LAMAR

 

[jeff k]

Lamar... The dates don't match on that theory. The PR says the ship sank less than 25 years ago, so that would be around 1973. By the way, the Blue Baron project is actually off Cape Cod. SubSea Research admitted they lied when they first claimed it was off Guyana, because they were trying to keep the actual site secret.

 

[lamar]

Dear JeffK;
It seems to me that if someone lied about the location of a wreck, then they could just have easily lied about the year that it went below the waves as well.
Your friend;
LAMAR

 

[tridentresearch]

Jeff & Lamar;
If memory serves me correctly... and it may not at this late date... I believe that this "ghost ship" was actually a load of wartime German gold that was being moved for liquidation clandestinely by locals in Central America to an offshore banking institution. And I think it was somewhere down in the Lesser Antilles area. The story was that this small vessel refused to be overhauled and boarded while transiting through certain waters and was sunk accordingly, splitting in half and spilling her ingots onto the bottom in deep water. Back in the late seventies I was requested to look into this but could not find much because, quite frankly, everthing about it was off the official records and hard to confirm unless one had inside information.

As far as the "Blue Baron" project is concerned I can't say much at all, but can confirm that it is off Cape Cod and presently active with a 220' fully capable salvage Vessel & team, ROV's etc. and has a fully armed security team embarked onboard... such is the seriousness of the operation.

Best;
TR

 

[jeff k]

Thanks for the info Ed. That scenario might make a good movie.

 

[treasurediver]

Thanks for the info Ed. That scenario might make a good movie.

A movie was made of the 1997 expedition, it can be bought on DVD. The full story would indeed make a thriller. It is a long story with all the ingredients for an action movie.

Treasurediver