MOSCOW, January 30 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will
investigate if it has a right to part of an estimated $3.7
billion worth of treasure discovered on board a British cargo
ship sunk by a German WWII submarine, the Russian Culture
Minister said on Friday.
A British cargo vessel, torpedoed in June 1942 while
carrying precious metals to the United States to help pay for
the Allied war effort under the Lend-Lease Act, was recently
discovered by the U.S.-based Sub Sea Research company off
Guyana.
The sunken ship, given the codename the Blue Baron, is believed
to contain gold, platinum and diamonds worth some $3.7 billion,
possibly the world's wealthiest wreck. A large part of the
cargo is thought to have once belonged to both the Soviet Union
and Great Britain.
"This case is being studied by the Foreign Ministry,"
Alexander Avdeyev said. "That's the way these things go. First
an international legal investigation is carried out in each
case and then - identification of ownership. After that experts
on cultural property get involved."
Anatoly Kolodkin, the president of the Association of
International Maritime Law, said the issue of who the freight
belongs to is complicated, adding that documentation confirming
payment to the U.S. for the cargo as part of Lend-Lease should
exist somewhere.
"If we are the owners and know that we are the owners, we
need to file an application claiming ownership of part of the
cargo. No such application has been filed," Kolodkin said,
adding "We need to examine the archives to confirm that part of
the cargo belonged to the Soviet Union and part to Great
Britain."
The Sub Sea Research company that found the vessel has
filed an initial salvage claim on the treasure, although
Russia, Great Britain, Guyana, and the United States have yet
to make any counter claim.
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