An occasional writer's journal

You might have expected more of a fanfare at the resolution of a sunken treasure mystery that could have inspired a Hollywood blockbuster, had it continued indefinitely.

But insurers have laid to rest the saga of the Polar Mist since the recovery of the cargo of gold and silver that went down with the Chilean fishing boat when it capsized after a so-called “perfect storm” in the Strait of Magellan.

The Polar Mist

The saga began when the Polar Mist was abandoned by its crew during a fierce storm between the coast of southern Chile and Tierra del Fuego in mid-January. It had been bound for Punta Arenas and eventually Santiago with the gold to be flown to Switzerland for refining.

The Polar Mist’s captain and crew were rescued from the perilous waters by the Argentine coast guard after donning wetsuits and jumping overboard with the ship’s engines still running, apparently an accepted practice to run down the remaining fuel and limit any environmental impact. However, it seemed bizarre in light of the value of the cargo, that the captain did not cut the engine and mark the boat’s last known position.

No reports of damage or injury were received but the Polar Mist sank the following day after a Chilean tugboat, The Beagle, had attempted to tow it toward Chile but was intercepted and ordered by the coast guard to make port in Argentina.

The Polar Mist never arrived and it was not until a month later that the sinking was made public. Rumours of a robbery or insurance scam began circulating amid claims that at least one hatch had been left open despite the ship being battered by high winds and waves rising to a height of 10 metres.

British insurance company Lloyds was facing a US$16.4 payout on the 6.9 tonnes of “golden metal” lying 75 metres beneath the southern Argentine Sea. Instead it contracted the Skandi Patagonia, the ship used to recover Russian submarine Kursk from the icy depths of the Baring Sea where it sank in 2002 with the loss of 118 lives.

The Skandi, which is used for oil and gas exploration, is owned by Dutch company Mammoet. It provided the floating base of a US$2-3 million operation supervised by the Argentine courts and involving a team of divers and the latest in underwater robotics.