The expert told about the location of gold from sunken ships in Primorye

Gold and other valuable artifacts from ships sunk off the coast of Primorsky Krai are usually found at a considerable depth under a layer of silt. As an example, experts cite the steamship Varyagin, which sank after being blown up by a mine in 1906. This was announced on May 31 by Alexey Kondratyuk, head of the Underwater research section of the Russian Geographical Society.

"One of the most exciting underwater gold seekers and adventurers is the steamship Varyagin, which was blown up by a mine in 1906. He transported workers and salaries to Kangauz Bay, now Sukhodol Bay near Bolshoy Kamen. It is reliably known from information from the archives that the ship was carrying valuable cargo, which we do not know, maybe documents, as well as gold coins equivalent to 40 thousand. So far, there is no information that something was lifted from the ship," the source told RIA Novosti.

Kondratyuk said that attempts to examine the Varyagin steamer were made back in 1907, but the work was complicated by the great depth and the presence of human remains. Later, the research was postponed, and after the revolution, the ship was forgotten for almost a century.

According to him, the ship was discovered in 2014 and its location was confirmed, but it is almost completely submerged in mud. The expert noted that excavating at such a depth requires complex equipment and lengthy work, so searching for gold on the ship is now almost impossible.

Kondratyuk also mentioned the legend of Admiral Alexander Kolchak's gold, which was allegedly transported on a sunken ship. However, he stressed that there is no archival evidence for this version, and the estimated crash site is unknown.

The expert added that there are many historical ships in the waters of Primorye, on which valuable artifacts can be preserved — from gold to household items. At the same time, the lifting of finds from ships that have been under water for more than 100 years requires a special permit. According to him, sometimes accidentally found parts help to determine the origin of a sunken ship, which are then checked against archival documents.

On May 29, Nonna Lavrik, Minister of Culture and Archives of the Sakhalin Region, announced that the bell from the cruiser Novik, which sank off the coast of Sakhalin during the Russian-Japanese War, had been transferred to the regional Museum of Local Lore. A valuable exhibit was recovered from the bottom in the area of the ship's sinking. The bell was handed over to the museum by a veteran of the special military operation, first class diver Leonard Kurbanov. The transfer ceremony took place in the main museum of the region.