SS Gairsoppa

NI Tourism Minister: “I recently had discussions with the chief executive of Tourism Ireland and expressed my disappointment about how the promotion of the Wild Atlantic Way stops at the border.”

| Readers 2023

Without wishing to undermine historian Hiram Morgan’s call for Irish Government action to preserve the cultural heritage in the seas off the Wild Atlantic Way, it’s worth noting the stated objective of that tourism initiative… The overall aim of the project is to develop a route that will achieve greater visibility for the west coast of Ireland in overseas tourist markets. Also worth pointing out that one of the armada wrecks he mentioned, La Girona, isn’t on the Wild Atlantic Way, having …

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“Odyssey is conducting the Gairsoppa project under contract with the UK Department for Transport”

| Readers 45

As the Guardian reports, US company Odyssey Marine Eploration have announced the recovery of “approximately 48 tons of silver bullion from a depth of approximately three miles” from the SS Gairsoppa, 300 miles off the Irish coast. According to Odyssey Marine This initial recovery of bullion from the SS Gairsoppa, a 412-foot steel-hulled British cargo ship that sank in February 1941, totals 1,203 silver bars or approximately 1.4 million troy ounces of silver and has been transported to a secure facility …

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Odyssey Marine confirm site of shipwreck containing 200 tonnes of silver 300 miles off Irish coast

| Readers 57

As the BBC report, the US company Odyssey Marine Exploration have confirmed “the identity and location of the shipwreck site of the SS Gairsoppa nearly 4,700 meters below the surface of the North Atlantic, approximately 300 miles off the coast of Ireland in international waters.” And if the historical records and research are correct, the wreck contains 7 million total ounces [200 tonnes] of silver.  Worth £600,000 when the ship was torpedoed by a German U-boat and sank in 1941, the silver hoard is …

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