Research
The cost of a years’ worth of research can equate to a single day of salvage operations at sea.
Subsequently SalvOcean relies heavily on its thorough research of potential salvage targets well ahead of an operation.
Identifying and choosing which wrecks to pursue
We have the team and database
The SalvOcean research team is made up of archivists and of historians based in the USA, Canada and UK
The SalvOcean master database has been constructed over many decades, gathering material from public archives, banks, government repositories and private archives.
Both research and salvage management work together in identifying the best options for potential salvage targets and confer directly with the corporate division
Is the Gold there?
A target shipwreck must meet certain criteria before being considered for salvage; a long list of points must be addressed, and evidential proof provided to confirm the correct choices are being made.
All gold cargoes being transported during the Wars were never documented, being classified as ‘Top Secret’, further evidence must be correlated and checked for authenticity before moving to the next stage.
How do we know?
SalvOcean has developed a ‘Salvage Criteria Matrix’ which has three defining categories, with each category having many stepwise refining points that must be addressed.
1. Was the cargo loaded onboard?
2. Is the cargo still there?
3. Is the cargo recoverable?
When do we go?
SalvOcean will not consider a wreck until it can answer “Yes” to the above questions with every confidence based on a % points system and until thresholds are met SalvOcean will not consider a wreck viable.
The research SalvOcean has carried out allows us to ensure a wreck is viable and gives us the belief that we know where the ships are, where on the ships the cargo was stored and whether they are recoverable.