NAZI-TREASURE HUNT

$130M in gold eyed on sunken ship

A World War II-era German cargo ship that sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 77 years ago could hold up to $130 million worth of Nazi gold — and a team of treasure hunters is awaiting the green light to haul it up.

The lost loot is believed to be deep under the waters near Iceland in a chest inside a merchant vessel called the SS Minden.

A British salvage company has reportedly requested permission from Icelandic authorities to cut a hole in the ship in an attempt to retrieve the roughly four tons of gold, which originally came from banks in South America.

The wreckage of the ship was discovered about 120 nautical miles south of Iceland, The Sun newspaper reported.

The ship had sunk in 1939 and remained missing for years.

The UK-based Advanced Marine Services salvage company discovered the chest in the vessel’s post room earlier this year.

The Nazis had been shipping the gold to Germany in an attempt to get it back before the start of World War II.

The Minden reportedly set sail from Brazil on Sept. 6, 1939, just days after the war began.

Under orders from Adolf Hitler, the crew was said to have scuttled the ship on Sept. 24 in a bid to protect its valuable cargo from falling into the hands of the the British Royal Navy.

A spokesman for the Icelandic Environmental Agency told Fox News on Thursday that an application had been received for the salvage operation, though it could take weeks before a decision is made.

The Advanced Marine Service team wants ultimately to take the chest to Britain, under the claim that its contents belong to the people who found it.

While the Minden is not technically in Iceland’s territorial waters, it does sit in the country’s exclusive economic zone — meaning authorities in that nation can enforce pollution controls and environmentalimpact measures so no one interferes with the wreck.

They can’t, however, make claim to any salvage.

The Icelandic officials are reportedly expected to make a decision about the chest’s ownership by no later than next month.