A joint salvage operation by companies from China, the United Kingdom, and Canada will attempt to recover 5,500 boxes of gold bullion and 200 tons of gold coins allegedly worth $133 billion from the sunken wreck of the Imperial Russian Navy armored cruiser Dmitrii Donskoi, which sank off the coast of South Korea 113 years ago.
The wreck of the Dmitrii Donskoi was again located, this time by a South Korean treasure hunting company called the Shinil Group. This group, however, was formed only last month in Singapore with a capitalization of just $87,800. Shinil Group announced it had found Dmitrii Donskoi 430 meters below the surface, some 1.6 km off the South Korean island of Ulleungdo.
The South Korean government seems to view this announcement as a scam since Shinil Group hasn't applied for salvage rights with the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. An official with the ministry said salvage rights require a down payment of about 10 percent of the estimated value of whatever salvagers recover.
In the case of the alleged wealth aboard the Dmitrii Donskoi, this means Shinil Group will have to deposit an astronomical $13.3 billion for gold it's not sure is even there. Raising this massive sum would seem an impossible task for a company capitalized at only $87,800.
The South Korean government also said Shinil Group has offered no evidence the Dmitrii Donskoi was carrying any gold when she was scuttled by her captain to prevent her capture by the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1905.
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), South Korea's financial regulator, has since warned the South Korean public against investing money in treasure hunting scams.
Donga-ah Construction Company, a South Korean firm that has since gone bankrupt and shut down, previously attempted to salvage the Dmitrii Donskoi in the early 2000s.
The Dmitri Donskoii, an armored cruiser designed as a commerce raider, first set sail in 1885. She was scuttled after suffering severe battle damage during the 1905 Battle of Tsushima in the waters between South Korea and Japan during the Russo-Japanese War.
Shinil Group claims Dmitri Donskoii had a large amount of gold coins aboard when she was scuttled. It said the money was to have been used to fund Russia's war against Japan. It said it would use some of the gold to pay dividends to users of its new cryptocurrency exchange, and give half the money to Russia.
Shinil Group, however, is uncertain just how much of the gold it might be able to recover. A spokesman for the group, however, said they also plan to donate 10 percent of the bullion for tourism projects on Ulleungdo Island, including a movie set and a memorial to the ship.
