UNDER SEA WEALTH

Waipa Post, Volume 45, Issue 3214, 9 August 1932, Page 7

UNDER SEA WEALTH

CARGOES FROM OLD WRECKS. GRIM GUARDIANS OF THE DEEP. Sunken wealth which has long lain beneath the waters of Table Bay, Capetown, will soon, it is expected, be reclaimed, for work has been begun by a salvage syndicate. The syndicate already has a list of about 15 foundered ships whose cargoes and positions are approximately known, and, when the weather has been calm, divers walking on the floor of the bay have seen blackened timbers, ironwork, and chairs. There are dozens of wrecks scatetred along the shores of the bay. When the north-east gales scour the sand from them and expose their ribs, the divers hope that the sea may give up its secrets and its treasures. Meanwhile, salving operations are being carried out on the wreck of the Norwegian sailing ship Ryvengen. There are between 1000 and 1500 tons of coal in the wreck. Most of this coal will probably be recovered, although some difficulty is anticipated when working near the bottom of the ship. Giant fronds of seaweed cover the upper decks and the ’tween decks, but the lower holds are free from these entanglements.

The engineer in charge of the operations has made a patent scythe with wh'ch the divers cut the immense stalks which form a network eveiywhere and hinder the work. In the lower hold a' number of iron beams have been blasted away to enable the grab bucket to have free play. The diver has a dangerous task in moving among the forest of seaweed and the mass of twisted ironwork and rigging in these old wrecks, for, should the air-pipe become entangled or cut, he would be in the gravest danger of losing his life, even though the most Skilful attendants above were looking after the signalling lines. There is also danger from octopods in Table Bay. One day men saw a wriggling form in the clear water above the wreck of the America. Then a slithering mass of green and light yellow emerged from a black hole in the side of the wreck and disappeared into the depths. The monster rneasui’ed seven feet aci’oss the tentacles.

The Ryvengen is on the top of another wreck which is thought to con* tain copper in small boxes, and at least four wrecks,, are known to contain a quantity of Chinese porcelain.