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09.05.2021 16:55:36
"It was extremely difficult. We spend almost three months looking for it," said Brooks.
"A few days before I almost pulled the plug."
See full version: Modern treasure hunters claim they ve found billions in sunken ship off Boston
"It was extremely difficult. We spend almost three months looking for it," said Brooks.
"A few days before I almost pulled the plug."
The S.S. Port Nicholson was torpedoed by a German U-boat in 1942 during World War II. According to Esper, research shows the vessel drifted before finally sinking, plunging 700 feet into the depths of Georges Bank, a popular fishing channel littered with shipwrecks and known for strong currents and turbulent weather. more
The search has already cost millions of dollars. Wealthy investors are hoping for a big payday, but there is no guarantee. here
"Difficult. Very difficult. The pressure is immense down there. It is diveable, but it's a very scary dive," said Esper. here
Jonathan White: They certainly are.
And there they were. Giant fields of nodules covering an alien landscape. Millions of years old, the nodules grow by absorbing metals from the seawater, expanding slowly around a core of shell, bone or rock. The potential is staggering, estimates of their worth run from $8 to more than $16 trillion.
Bill Whitaker: Was that-- a big setback? more
Bill Whitaker: small portion of-- here
Kris Van Nijen: That's exactly what we mean. It has no mercy. It has to be 1,000% perfect or it won't work. here
Bill Whitaker: Won't deep sea mining actually be less invasive, have less of an impact than mining on land? here
It's a national security issue, White says. "A weapons system, the guidance of our weapons, X-ray machines, microwaves, they all rely on [rare earth] elements hard to come by," he tells Whitaker
China and other countries are racing to be the first to mine trillions of dollars worth of metals used in cell phones, supercomputers and more, while the U.S. is on the sidelines. 60 Minutes reports, Sunday at 7:30 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. PT on CBS [links]
60 Minutes joined Canadian company DeepGreen Metals on its latest research trip, mapping the seafloor, three miles down, and fishing for nodules. The company estimates there's enough nickel and cobalt in its stake to make batteries for 150 million electric cars. [links]
Nineteen countries have exploration licenses in the CCZ, including China, Russia, Germany and France. Even Cuba and Tonga have stakes. But the U.S. is not permitted to participate because it didn't ratify the United Nation's Law of the Sea which rules these international waters. Without signing the treaty, the U.S. is outside the system that is dividing up the ocean floor for deep sea mining.
The deep sea metals are estimated to be worth as much as $16 trillion. They're found in lumps of black rock called nodules, and there are trillions of them strewn across a vast, muddy desert in the Clarion Clipperton Zone, in the middle of the Pacific between Hawaii and Mexico. It's sunken treasure because every nodule contains nickel, copper, cobalt, manganese and traces of rare earth elements. It's estimated there are more metals on the bottom of the ocean than anywhere on the planet. [links]
Without a seat at the table, retired Rear Admiral Jonathan White worries the U.S. has no say in how deep sea mining will be developed or what environmental protections will be put in place. He also fears this gives China an overwhelming head start in pursuit of deep sea metals, at a time when it already commands a chokehold of metals like cobalt and rare earths on land. here
When German adventurer August Gissler became the official governor of Cocos Island in 1897, he was not interested in the small group of tobacco growers living there, most of whom he had brought over from his home country. He was obsessed in locating the solid gold Madonna and also the treasure of pirate Benito Bonito, and over the years had dug out an extensive system of underground tunnels in his quest. He ultimately left the island in 1908 after assembling clues as to where the treasure was located, but only walked away with a few random coins. here
*One 7-foot Solid Gold Statue of Virgin Mary with Baby Jesus. Weighing 780 pounds, rolled on her gold chasuble adorned with 1,684 jewels including 4-inch emeralds, 6-inch topazes and 7 crosses made of diamonds. here
Cocos Island Treasure Map
*One chest containing 4,000 doubloons of Spanish Marked 8, 124 swords, 5,000 crowns of Mexican Gold, 64 daggers, 120 shoulder belts and 28 round shields. more
I spoke with Genna Marie Davis with the adventure diving company Undersea Hunter Group, who told me, "It's tricky writing about Cocos Island treasures because there is so much hearsay, lore and conflicting information all tangled up that it's difficult to discern the truth. The stories are very fun, but you have to take them with a grain of salt. There was even a lot of misinformation purposefully spread by treasure hunters trying to throw other treasure hunters off the track."