SALVAGED GOLD

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 230, 24 June 1932, Page 11

SALVAGED GOLD

Ingots Lifted from Hulk SUNKEN LINER EGYPT Work at Record Depth Bv Telegraph—Preus Assn. —Copyright. (Rec. June 23,'7.10 p.m.). Paris, June 23. After four years’ efforts the first ingots of gold have been salvaged from the sunken P. and O. liner Egypt by the dogged divers of the salvage ship Artiglio. The ingots are valued at several hundred thousand pounds. The operations will be continued to-morrow. This is the first time that gold has been salvaged from a depth below 400 feet. The success is due to chain bombs blowing up a portion of the liner’s strong-room, enabling four divers to enter it. Seeking to recover more than £1,250,000 worth of bullion, an Italian company, equipped with the latest possible apparatus, has been endeavouring to reach the gold and silver in the hulk of the liner Egypt. This 8000-ton P. and O. vessel was sunk on May 20, 1922, in collision with the French freighter Seine, and lies 450 feet beneath the surface. Ordinary diving gear was useless, as the pressure at that depth approximates that of the interior of a locomotive boiler. Added to this the depth causes poor visibility. However, divers were specially equipped and were able to reach the captain’s room, where they opened his safe and recovered documents showing where the bullion was stored. To clear a patli to the strongroom three decks —boat, hunrricane, and spar—had to be blasted through. _ Despite the tragic loss of the Artiglio the company has persisted with the work, using a sister salvage ship, the Rostro. Operations were suspended during the northern winttr.