Sea explorers find shipwreck full of silver in Atlantic

TAMPA, Fla. — A sea exploration company said today it has discovered a ship filled with silver 8,000 feet beneath the surface of the North Atlantic Ocean. Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc. said it found the remains of the SS Mantola, which sank on Feb. 9, 1917. It was torpedoed by German submarine U-81. The ship was insured to carry silver worth 110,000 British pounds when it sailed in 1917. That value would mean that the ship could hold as much as 600,000 ounces of silver based on silver prices in 1917. Odyssey will retain 80 percent of the value of the silver that’s recovered. At current market prices, that much silver would be worth more than $19 million. The company is planning a recovery expedition that’s planned to start next spring. It said its share of the proceeds will contribute significantly to funding its future operations. The shipwreck is about 100 miles away from another earlier found by the Odyssey. The SS Gairsoppa sank in 1941 carrying a reported cargo of up to 7 million ounces of silver. Shares of Odyssey rose 7 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $2.70 in morning trading.