‘Treasure ship’ starts gold frenzy
A company claiming to have found one of the most valuable shipwrecks in history off the coast of South Korea has sparked gold fever among investors — and warnings from the country’s financial regulator.
The Shinil Group claimed this week to have found the Dmitri Donskoi, a Russian warship scuttled by her crew in 1905 during the Russo-Japanese War.
The ship, it was said, was carrying the funds of Russia’s Second Pacific Squadron, and sank with 5500 boxes of gold bars and 200 tons of coins in its hold, worth a little over $195 billion.
But questions have been raised about the treasure.
South Korea’s financial regulators have warned investors to be wary of sinking cash into companies behind the venture.
“Concerning the treasure ship salvage project, investors’ discretion is recommended as there are risks of them suffering great losses if they rely on rumours,” the Financial Supervisory Service said.
“Spreading false information or groundless rumours about the ‘treasure ship’ salvage can be subject to a criminal punishment.”
South Korean media have also raised questions about the Shinil Group as several of its affiliated firms are not registered with the South Korean authorities, and calls to the company in recent days have gone unanswered.
One suggestion reported by the Korea Times is that the eye-catching announcement is linked to the Shinil Group’s cryptocurrency operations.
A website set up under their name described a newly launched “Donskoi International” crypto currency exchange as linked to the find.
The website said it would “share profits” from the wreck with the public by handing out its virtual currency to anyone who signed up to use the exchange.
The Shinil Group has denied that the website is affiliated with the company.
The Daily Telegraph spoke to the British leader of the search team that located the wreck, who said he was “watching with as much interest as everyone else”.
Alan Whitfield, director of Silvercrest Submarines, said the wreck was found at a depth of more than 420m about 1.6km off the coast of the island of Ulleungdo.
— Telegraph Media Group