The president of a Canadian company that helped find a sunken Russian warship says his firm has had no issues in its dealings with the company behind the search, which is now under investigation for potential stock market fraud in South Korea.
Two submarines from Vancouver-based Nuytco were used in the search for the Dmitrii Donskoi, which sank in 1905 during the Russo-Japanese War.
Company founder and president Phil Nuytten says Nuytco was hired to locate the ship, confirm that it was the Donskoi, and take images of the wreck. The search was expected to take weeks, but Nuytco鈥檚 crew discovered the ship on their first day under the water.
鈥淲e literally found it in the spot that they told us [to start with],鈥� Nuytten told CTVNews.ca.
Rumours have persisted since the Donskoi鈥檚 sinking that the ship contained 200 tonnes of gold bars and coins, with an estimated 2018 value of US$132 billion.
Shinil Group, the salvaging company which led the project, said a number of iron boxes were found in the ship鈥檚 stern, fueling speculation that the stories of long-lost treasure may have been true.
A bizarre press conference was held Thursday in South Korea as word came down that authorities in that country had launched an investigation into the company.
Choi Yong-seok told reporters that it was his first day as Shinil鈥檚 president, and that his predecessor Ryu Sang-Mi had left his job because he felt 鈥渂urdened鈥� by public suspicions that the gold claim was masking some sort of scam.
In fact, Choi said, Shinil had no information on whether the ship contained any gold. He apologized for the 鈥渟peculative鈥� comments the company had made earlier in the week.
Nuytten said news that the treasure first believed to be on the ship might not actually exist 鈥渇its in very well鈥� with the reports he鈥檇 received from his team.
鈥淭hey said 鈥� they haven鈥檛 seen anything in the way of treasure, but that鈥檚 not to say that it鈥檚 not there,鈥� Nuytten said.
Nuytco has been fully paid by Shinil for its work on the project, Nuytten said, adding that Nuytco 鈥渕ay well be involved鈥� if Shinil receives government approvals to salvage the wreck.
With files from The Associated Press
