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$130 million of Nazi gold may be in a sunken cargo ship

By Chris Perez

July 27, 2017 | 10:18pm | Updated


Paging Nic Cage!

A sunken German cargo ship — located in the waters near Iceland — could hold up to $130 million worth of Nazi gold, according to reports.
The treasure trove is believed to be hidden in a chest inside the merchant vessel, known as the SS Minden.

A British salvage company discovered the ship scuttled about 120 nautical miles south of Iceland, The Sun reported.

Crew members were said to have found the chest in the boat’s post room. It is believed to contain four tons of gold, all of which came from South American banks.

The loot was being shipped to Germany by the Nazis in the attempt to get it back before the start of World War II.


The SS Minden reportedly set sail from Brazil on September 6, 1939 just days after the war began.

Under orders from Adolf Hitler, the crew was said to have scuttled the ship in a bid to protect its valuable cargo from falling into the hands of the Royal Navy.

It remained hidden in the waters off Iceland for years — along with its suspected treasure chest — until the UK-based Advanced Marine Services company stumbled upon it during a salvage operation earlier this year.
The firm has reportedly requested permission from Icelandic authorities to enter the SS Minden and retrieve the gold — much like how Nicolas Cage’s character, Ben Gates, did in the 2004 movie, “National Treasure,” when he found the first clue in his hunt for the Founding Fathers’ hidden booty.

A spokesman for the Icelandic Environmental Agency told Fox News on Thursday that an application had been received, though it could take weeks before a decision is made.

The AMS team wants to ultimately take the chest back to Britain, under the claim that its contents belong to the people who found it.
While the Minden is not technically in Iceland’s territorial waters, it does sit in the country’s exclusive economic zone — meaning authorities can enforce pollution controls and environmental impact measures so no one interferes with the wreck.

They can’t, however, make claim to any salvage.

Icelandic officials are expected to make a decision about the chest’s ownership by no later than next month.