Treasure hunters plunge cash into search for deep sea bounty.
ON A CALM JUNE EVENING IN 1690, the Spanish galleon, Pilar, was outward bound from Acapulco to Manila, laden with silver coins, gold bullion and precious artifacts. Close to Cocos Island off the south west tip of Guam, the wind suddenly failed and currents swept her onto a reef. She sank at dusk, within sight of the shore, and all the passengers - about 200 - were saved.
Now a company called Maritime Archaeological Investments, (Mail), based in Adelaide, South Australia, is seeking to raise up to US$2.5 million in a share offer to finance a hunt for the treasure from the Pilar, as well as the billions of dollars worth of riches thought to be lying in other shipwrecked galleons.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, vast amounts of gold and silver mined or plundered by the Spanish were shipped from South America west to the Philippines for trade with China, or back to Spain via the gulf of Mexico. Scores of vessels did not make it. The ill-fated Pilar was one of them, and is the first priority for the Adelaide entrepreneurs. The government of Guam has given an exclusive contract to the company to salvage the galleon in return for 25% of the value of anything it finds.
The reason the Mail crew is so keen on the Pilar is that they employed John Masters, a scholar in ancient Spanish, to examine records of galleon voyages kept at the Archivo General de Indias in Seville. He discovered that the captain and senior officers of the Pilar were found guilty of gross negligence at a court of inquiry held in Guam. A transcript of the evidence given in the proceedings was sent back to Spain, where it lay unread for three centuries. It turned out to contain what was in effect a treasure map, showing the approximate point on the reef where the galleon foundered.
Records also indicated that the 500-ton Pilar may have carried an exceptionally valuable cargo of up to 1.5 million silver coins mined in Peru and stored in wooden chests. If that is true, it would be worth some US$500 million.
The cargo manifest has never been found. This is not surprising, since Manila galleons frequently carried large unofficial quantities of additional gold and silver owned by the officers and passengers, and used for their private trade with Chinese merchants. These transactions were strictly forbidden by Spanish royal decree. Often captains hurriedly threw cargo papers overboard if their ships were in danger.
When the treasure seekers made their first dives in Guam in 1991, they thought they had hit the jackpot straight away. Early finds included 36 pieces of eight silver coins predating 1690. Nothing further of value was initially discovered. It seems coins and personal items had tumbled from pockets and purses on the reef during the rescue of the passengers in the middle of the night. It was concluded that the Pilar had slipped into deeper water and been driven further out during a particularly fierce typhoon in 1693.
Mail suffered another setback when an American marine archaeologist challenged the Guam government's right to the treasure, and its contract with the Australian company. The US courts ruled in its favour, but the litigation cost US$1 million, and set the project back several years. Then a member of the diving team was killed. The sea does not give back its bounty easily.
In 1996 a group of Adelaide businessmen put up the money to mount an intensive exploration using the latest acoustic and electronic sensing gear. Marine search equipment can now "see" several metres below the ocean floor through solid coral. That expedition found nearly 2,000 items including ballast stones, canon balls and a bronze medallion of St Francis of Assisi. It is known that 22 Franciscan monks were on board. Also retrieved were pieces of timber thought to be wooden hull stakes.
Mail, headed by Rod Hartley, the 62-year-old former director of State Development in South Australia, is convinced it is tantalisingly close to a historical and financial bonanza and has engaged experts to assist in the search.
With doubloons in short supply, the advisers will be issued with 20,000 share options a piece. The company is offering up to five million shares to the public at A$1 (US$0.55) a time. Clearly this is not an investment suitable for widows and orphans. Even the "high-risk speculative" description in the offer document understates the nature of the Pilar punt.
What it represents, particularly for many retirees who have put up the minimum A$500 investment, is a dream of swaying palms, white sandy beaches and the chance of sharing in a Spanish treasure trove. They can follow the hunt at www.maritimeinvestment.com.au - so they don't even have to get wet.