BillA
Bronze Member
yeah, but there is also a reason why you and Klaus haven't recovered it
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Yes that is true.
The site is smack bang on the border not only would will be the patrimony / historical issues from one country but possibly two. There is a potential legal challenge from either country.
Crow
Klaus as German born in 1938. He became a stray child left over from chaos and destruction on Nazi Germany in WW2. Poverty after WW2 was in terrible conditions after the water. I suppose born into death destruction as child and surviving it makes people have a hunger and drive survive. Klaus was one such person saddled with guilt of a destructive war he was child in. So in his passion to escape the horrors of the past created the hunger amigos.
The hunger amigos is what drives treasure hunters......
Klaus turned up researching many lost treasures around the world especially in South America and south East Asia. While even with best of research there was no guarantees of success in life. Failure walks hand in hand with success like ying and yang. But where people shine is in the persistence.....
Persistence Persistence Persistence.....while continued failure over time can be frustrating yet dame fortune can shine when you least expect it.
Klaus found documents pertaining to British ship The "Forbes", Captain Frazer Sinclair, sailed from Calcutta bound to the Eastward on a trading voyage with a cargo of opium, piece goods and iron; returning home laden with a profit to a considerable amount about 2 A.M then going at the rate of 5 knots, she struck on a reef of rocks at the Southern entrance of the straits of Billiton, latitude 3° 40' South, together with a Dutch brig which had been taken as prize during the voyage.
She was from Batavia bound to Sourabaya with a cargo of wine, gin, arrack &... The boats were immediately hoisted out, and every endeavour made to get the ship off, but unfortunately without any effect, as in about 2 hours after, the stern went down in 5 fathoms; finding every attempt to save either the vessel or cargo fruitless.
The crew with 5 Javanese taken from the brig were divided into three boats: Captain Sinclair, Mr. Robert Sharp, 4th mate and 11 of the crew of the pinnace, after undergoing the greatest distress from want of water and provisions under a scorching sun, without an awning or anything to cover them, fell in with the General Baird, Captain John Harford, eight days after leaving the wreck who supplied them with everything requisite for their further progress to Malacca.
However he never had the capital to search and recover such treasure as he discovered references to two gold chests and 1.5 tons of silver Spanish pieces of 8.
With no backers no one even interested to even listen to his proposal he persuaded a German real estate developer Martin Wenzel prepared to put 3 million into search for the Forbes. In their search they found by chance a Chinese junk full of porcelain. Yet their goals was the Forbes.
But the persistence pays off amigo in 2009 they hit the jack pot. and found more than 1.5 tonnes of silver coins, gold jewellery, crystal, Chinese porcelain, cannon, muskets and 400 bottles of wine were recovered by the treasure hunters from the Forbes, a ship that ran aground between Borneo and Sumatra in 1806....
In the picture below Klaus is in the far left of the picture and Martin Wenzel is in far right below. Klaus was 71 years old until he finally hit the jackpot.
View attachment 1866026
However at the time they was able to negotiate a deal with the Indonesian authorities 50/50 deal. The recovered an estimated 12 million. It did not got without problems even with agreements in place. Academics and archeologists made a fuss about the ethics of deal. They started rumor that Klaus spirited more out of country robbing the Indonesia government of their equal share that promoted authorities to raid the warehouse. Nothing was proved....But when mud is thrown mud sticks and the Indonesian government would not renew any more deals with them in which they had identified a shipwreck with 2 tons gold. Today that mystery wreck has been kept secret because no deal can be made.
I believe Klaus has now since passed away a few years ago amigos so the secret of the other shipwreck remains a legend.
Knowing how astute Klaus was with his research I have no doubt somewhere there is a shipwreck with about 100 million wrecked in Indonesian waters.
Crow
That is one of complexities many would be treasure hunters fail to understand. Finding gold is one mammoth task. Getting to keep it convert it into liquid assets and transfer it out of country is whole other ball game. Borders are not as fluid as in times past. Moving illicit gold with no Provence is not as easy as movies make out. If its not sized at the border your taking it from it will be sized in the country your taking it to. So the solution is to find buyer within the country in question to buy the gold and move money out into international transfers.
Crow