A group of treasure hunters have found Nazi gold worth an estimated $150 million aboard a German cargo ship sunk off the coast of Iceland.
British company Advanced Marine Services has discovered a safe in the post office of the SS Minden, which sank in 1939, containing up to four tons of valuable metal believed to be gold from South American banks.
The gold was on board a ship bound for Germany when it sank 190 kilometers southeast of Iceland on September 24, 1939, shortly after the outbreak of World War II.
Now Advanced Marine Services has asked the Icelandic authorities for permission to cut a hole in the ship's hull to remove the safe.
The SS Porta is the same series as the SS Minden.
The SS Minden set sail from Brazil on September 6, 1939, after employees of Banco Germanico, a subsidiary of the German Dresdner Bank, helped load the ship.
When the ship was discovered by the British cruisers HMS Calypso and HMS Dunedin, Adolf Hitler ordered the captain of the SS Minden to attempt to escape or deliberately scuttle the ship to prevent the Royal Navy from seizing the cargo. The crew of SS Minden were rescued by the crew of the cruiser HMS Dunedin and transported to the Scapa Flow naval base in Orkney.
