The hunt for the world’s most elusive shipwrecks has taken another unexpected turn…
A shipwrecks expert has discovered the most expensive wreck in the world. The discovery, which has been made on a remote island off the coast of Scotland, has led experts to believe that the wreck could be worth a staggering $10 million. Here, we speak to a marine archaeologist who has spent a lifetime on the hunt for the ship’s cargo.
It’s not often that we get to see a £10 million shipwreck on the planet. What’s more, it’s not often that we get to see a shipwreck that’s this old. It seems that not only is it more expensive than your average wreck, but also, for some reason, more rare.
There is evidence from one of the world’s biggest shipwrecks of a cargo of gold being sent from the Middle East to the Mediterranean in 870AD. To be fair, this gold was worth a lot more in Roman times.
That gold was shipped via a ship named The Golden Hind. Despite a previous shipwreck in the same area, the discovery of the Golden Hind is a major step on the way to finding the one with the world’s most expensive wreck. There may have been an even more famous cargo ship of course.
The Golden Hind was the largest of a group of ships that were built by an Italian shipbuilder in the 14th century. The name comes from the shape of the ship. It was shaped like a ship’s galleon.
The ship was built with a cargo capacity of around 7,000 tons. The cargo it carried included everything from wine, olive oil and horses to slaves, grain, wool and silk.
It went on to make around 140 voyages. The ship was a popular choice for trade routes between the Mediterranean and the Far East.
It is thought to have brought gold from Persia, India and elsewhere to the Mediterranean islands