Deep-sea treasure - Mission submersible

Andrew Craig, an Irishman, is to lead the bid to salvage 200 tons of silver some 300 miles off the Irish coast in international waters.

The cargo, which is worth around €170 million, went down on SS Gairsoppa, when it was sunk by a German submarine during the Second World War in February 1941.

The salvaging is believed to be the deepest and largest retrieval ever attempted at sea. The wreck lies 4,700 metres below the surface of the North Atlantic.

This is around a mile deeper than the waters in which the wreck of the Titanic is located. Hence the retrieval is going to be a mammoth operation.

The salvage process, which is due to begin in May or June of 2012, could take up to three months.

The retrieval of the precious cargo demonstrates how little we really know about the potential of the oceans and the treasures they hold.

Something, one hopes, our Government must keep very much in mind when it comes to future oil and gas exploration licences in Irish territorial waters.