If you want to earn crores, churn the sea

- Hotline-Bhalchandra Jani

- Finding valuables from the deep waters of the ocean and pulling them out is extremely expensive. The concept is like 'gold is more expensive than gold'.

The incident took place a few years ago when a naval vessel, a Coast Guard patrol boat and a few other boats plowed the seas off Elephanta Island for days. For the first time ever, the CBI, the Customs Department, the Mumbai Police, the Coast Guard and the Indian Navy were working on a unique mission. The operation, which had a symbolic name like 'Operation Search', was a bit daunting. That is why naval submarines and divers were also involved in the operation.

The point was that the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) Mumbai office received a call from a fisherman. He reported that some strangers had thrown a bag full of an unknown object into the sea near Uran. Investigations by his sources and informants further revealed that the items dumped at sea included gold worth Rs 20 crore, a large number of revolvers, cartridges, AK-4, assault rifles and explosives RDX. The Customs Department and the CBI sought the help of the Navy and Coast Guard after learning that the Dawood gang was behind the smuggling.

However, even after days of hard work, millions of rupees were blinded and the items dumped in the sea were not found.

Finding anything that goes under the sea is not easy. Needles lying on the road can be found, but finding the chest full of treasure lying at the bottom of the sea is breathless. If the valuables of a steamer that had been thrown into the sea, abandoned, or accidentally wrecked, could have been so easily taken out, the people living on the seashore would have won the lottery every day.

The fact that another piece of debris has been rotting for years in the polluted, deep waters of the ocean is a daunting task to dig out of the debris and bring it out of the water. Otherwise the precious things that have gone to the bottom in various oceans, gold, silver, platinum etc. would have been scrapped years ago. But in fact, despite the fact that crores of rupees have been found in a certain place at the bottom of the sea, no one has been able to find the 'treasure' even after years.

If we take the example of Mumbai's coastal area, years ago, a ship named Fort Stykine accidentally capsized in the Victoria dockyard of this city. At the time, the ship was bound for Britain with a gold bar. Suddenly, the ship's boiler room exploded, and the gold bars soared into the sea. At that time British sailors explored the sea for a few days but Zazi did not succeed and abandoned the effort halfway. It is estimated that about five thousand gold biscuits sank in the sea at the time of the eruption. Which may have fallen to the bottom of the Arabian Sea today. Who pulls it out?

There have been several incidents of shipwrecks in the waters around Mumbai or smugglers throwing gold bandages or other valuables into the water for fear of police raids. An estimated Rs. There is gold worth Rs 2,000 crore. In the coastal area from Mumbai to Ratnagiri, the customs department has been raided several times or the smugglers have been challenged by the Coast Guard patrol team and their belongings have been dumped in the water and escaped by speedboat. After such an incident occurs, the concerned government body conducts a superficial investigation. But no one dares to smuggle out the sea. One of the reasons is that finding such objects in the deep waters of the ocean and pulling them out is extremely expensive. The concept is like 'gold is more expensive than gold'.

However, as the price of gold, silver, diamond and platinum bars, which reached the bottom of the sea years ago, has skyrocketed today, the temptation of entrepreneurs to extract them is increasing. At the same time, the arithmetic has changed in favor of entrepreneurs. Three or four decades ago, science did not have as many tools as is available today. That is why some tricksters think that what is wrong in making such an effort if spending a few lakh rupees and putting one's hand in the water is worth crores of rupees? Attempts to haul seafarers that were halved in the past are now being re-planned and plowed with big budgets.

Since the development of trade relations between different countries by sea, many large ships have sunk in the sea with abundant wealth. Anyone who has the historical information about the sinking of such ships and steamers or the treasure hidden in the river-lake by the king maharajas can get this treasure by spending a little money.

Renowned historian Derek Wilson has compiled a series of accounts of the treasures of some of the world's most influential rulers. The historian has also collected historical information about which ships of which country, when they sank in which sea area and what valuables were filled in them. All this information is given in his book "The World Atlas of Treasure" with illustrated descriptions. Based on the information in this book, two important treasures and the wreckage of a Russian warship have been found in Italy and Spain so far. That is why the consumption of this book has increased so much.

To find potential treasure hunts, some treasure hunters have begun to collect old maps showing the old-fashioned maritime trade routes. On the other hand, some entrepreneurs have personally adopted the hobby of treasure hunting during the holidays. Businesses have been set up in Europe and America to find the treasure lying at the bottom of the sea.

There is a strange clause in international law. According to this section, an abandoned merchant ship or cargo ship can be seized by any person if he does not make a timely claim against the company he owns. That is why sailors and captains do not abandon a ship until it is sure that it will sink. In this case, if the ship is in international waters, it can be owned without any hesitation. Yet that clause does not apply to warships. The ownership of the country under which the warship sails remains forever.

During the First and Second World Wars, warships were used by nation governments to transport gold and silver. Hundreds of such warships sank at sea during World War II. There is no estimate of the total number of gold and silver bands that will go to the bottom of the sea with these ships.

In the 19th century, Britain was to import five tons of gold from Russia. The strongest warship of the British navy named 'Edinburgh' was selected for this operation. The gold navy was returning from the North Pole when the German navy capsized. Some German submarines and destroyers surrounded Edinburgh, and rained torpedoes on it. As a result, Edinburgh was badly injured and fell to one side. The captain felt that it was difficult to rescue the ship, so he fled in a lifeboat, including his 200 sailors. However, in the process, they went on to activate a 'timebomb' set up in Edinburgh. So that at any cost Edinburgh would not fall into the hands of the German army with its treasures. Rather, his tomb is formed at the bottom of the sea. The same thing happened. The time bomb exploded, causing the Edinburgh ship to explode and eventually sink 200 feet into the icy waters of the Arctic Ocean. Today this event (April 30, 19)

More than eight decades have passed. Yet no one has rushed to Edinburgh to pull out the five tonnes of gold that sank. The reason is that it is extremely difficult to do research by diving into the cold frozen waters of this ocean. Fifty-one hundred years ago, divers did not have the advanced equipment to retrieve a shipwreck. But today there are many tools available, from mini submarines to sinking bells. There are also robots that can be used to tear the back of a ship lying on the sea floor, break a strong room, and collect gold and silver bands. Now the divers themselves, equipped with other equipment, can dive into much deeper water. BK Yorkshire, a salvage company in Britain, has made a name for itself in finding such marine treasures. The company is contracted to search for valuables, ranging from sunken ships to discarded seawater.

The company has specially trained divers and self-propelled robots that go to the bottom of the ocean to do research. Even those who are fond of the hobby of treasure hunting find a treasure hidden in the ground by installing a metal detector. A novice treasure hunter at Midhall, Suffolk, England, discovered 30,000 coins in the third century with the help of a metal detector.

In South America, a few years ago, some adventurers dug up 200 barrels of gold coins from the sea near Chile. Entrepreneurs of a Chilean company called Wagner discovered the wreckage of a Spanish ship that sank a century ago near an island in the Pacific Ocean. The value of this gold coin at today's price

થાય 15 billion!

The treasure hunting business has become so popular and profitable in America, Britain and other European countries that many famous jewelers have started a separate treasure hunting department in their generation. Cartier can be named among such jewelers. The firm has made a lot of money by auctioning off the wreckage of numerous small and large ships that sank years ago in the Caribbean Sea. The jewelers have installed state-of-the-art ships, robots and underwater cameras for deep-sea research. The Cartier Company hired a 70-year-old man named Henry Morgan because he was a pirate in the Caribbean 50 to 60 years ago! Henry Morgan, who knows where the pirates hid the looted goods after looting ships in the Mediterranean, spends his past life comfortably leading the company's treasure hunting project!

I wish India had such a Henry Morgan! Because a lot of real gold from smuggling in India comes by sea. Years ago, David's seafarers may have dumped gold near the Mora coast. The Additional Commissioner of the Preventive Division of Customs said that the gold jackets brought from Dubai to Mumbai by sea may have been hidden in the sea when gold prices skyrocketed and smuggling of gold was rampant. The smuggled gold is given as compensation to the smugglers of narcotics.

Not long ago, the navy also expressed the possibility that a lot of valuable treasure was being dumped in the Indian Ocean. In addition to the sunken ships, many valuable items, including ancient artillery, furniture, utensils, and rare paintings, have been buried at sea.

The Department of Naval Water Surveying, i.e. the Hydrographic Department, is responsible for obtaining information on small and large islands, bats, rare vegetation, uplands, hollow areas, etc. in the sea floor. According to a survey conducted by this department, about 200 valuable ancient ships have been sunk in the sea area of ​​our country. The Naval Water Survey Department was established on June 1, 19.

Discussions are also being held with the Archaeological Survey of India about the discovery of such valuable boats from the bottom of the sea. Not long ago, a ship of 150 was discovered in the sea near Lakshadweep. In addition to some ancient cannons, porcelain utensils and furniture, many valuables were found from the ship. An entire village called Pupuhar was found submerged seven meters below the sea floor of the nearby east coast. Also the remains of some ancient boats were found. About 20 of the 300 ships that sank in the ocean floor are believed to be from the early 19th century.

The establishment of a separate department for the development of hydrography was started over 200 years ago. In the history of Maharashtra, it is also mentioned that the sea map of Mumbai was made for the Peshwas in 190 AD. But in 1904, a hydrographers named John & Samuel in India prepared a chart of the Indian Ocean for the East India Company. Today, in the 21st century, the graph of the ocean is created on a compact disc using a fully digital system. This method uses the help of sound medium (sonar technology) to create graphs. The water survey department used this method to find a two thousand meter high mountain in the sea near Mumbai at a depth of three meters. Helicopters have also been made available to the Water Survey Department, which can easily get information about the depth of 20 meters of the sea with the help of laser beams.

The truth is that adventurous people should try to find out about such 'treasures' that have sunk to the bottom of the sea.

Attempts are now being made to explore the world's seven oceans, as advanced technology is proving to be very useful in finding treasures. Very few may know that some such experts from the US and Germany are helping the Indian government to get the remains of the Mahabharata period Dwarika out of the sea. Ravindran Venkatachalam of the Indian Oceanography Institute told this correspondent that the Portuguese had successfully carried out a search operation to find many valuables thrown into the sea during the Goa liberation struggle.

If any clever divers get other equipment and churn the sea between Dwarka and Ratnagiri, there is a good chance of finding a lot of treasure sooner or later.