A treasure hunt finally crowned with success. The remains of a ship that sank in 1875 off Washington state near the west coast of the United States have been found after 147 years, Radio-Canada said Monday. The ship had on board, in addition to a hundred passengers, the current equivalent of 10 million dollars in gold (9.4 million euros).
Almost 270 passengers missing
The steamer, named SS Pacific, had left the port of Esquimalt, south of Vancouver, Canada, and was headed for San Francisco, United States. A destination that she never reached, since she sank in the waters of the Pacific.
This shipwreck is considered one of the biggest maritime disasters in the region. Only two people survived out of the more than 270 registered passengers on board.
For more than 140 years the exact location of the wreck was unknown, but one man worked for years to identify it. It’s Jeff Hummel, director of the Northwest Shipwreck Alliance. Fascinated by the ship’s history since his teens, he began researching it in 1993.
The ship sighted thanks to a piece of coal.
His efforts continue to be in vain for several years, but Jeff Hummel does not give up and creates his company dedicated to locating the missing ship. With his equipment, they manage, based on historical documents, to identify a search area.
Then, contacting a dozen fishermen, Jeff Hummel gets an important clue: a piece of coal that is caught in the fishing net of one of the sailors. It is analyzed by a laboratory which discovers that the lump of coal came from a coal mine belonging to the owner of the missing ship. Therefore, the ship should not be far away.
After another dozen underwater explorations, modern gold prospectors finally discover the wreck. She rests near Cape Flattery, the northernmost cape in the United States outside of Alaska, south of Vancouver Island. It took 147 years to find it.
Who will now keep the discovered gold? Under the law, the descendants of the passengers are entitled to claim a share. Four people have already contacted Jeff Hummel. The remains could go to a museum in Seattle, United States.
Source: BFM TV
