Fishing for gold, off Mumbai waters
Shailendra
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NEW DELHI 24 OCTOBER
CALL it gold diplomacy if you will. The British government recently sent a letter to Prime Minister A B Vajpayee about a proposal to salvage some 49,000 troy ounces of gold which sank in the Mumbai harbour. The proposal has been made by a London-based company Incentive Enterprise.
The gold was lost in 1944 when a ship belonging to the Royal Navy, Fort Stikine, caught fire and sank off the harbour. The consigment is valued at 6 million at prevailing prices. Fort Stikinewas carrying 67 rand refinery gold bars went down when an accidental fire spread through the cotton in its cargo.
In his letter to the PM, the chief executive officer of Incentive Enterprise observed that given the company's experience and its technological wherewithal to salvage treasure lost at sea, it is keen to retrieve the gold bars from the Mumbai harbour.
Given the declining value of the consignment - it was valued at 9 million in 1991 - it would be wise on the part of both countries to retrieve it first and then decide the ownership issue, he added.
The downside to the diplomacy, however, is the stand-off between the two governments. The British government is firm about staking a claim to the consignment, arguing the cargo belonged to the government of British India.
According to the International Convention on Succession of States (1983), such valuables are to be returned to the original owner country. This Convention supports India claiming ownership of the consignment. However, Britain is not a signatory to the Convention or else it would have to return all the treasure it has amassed from its former colonies.
In an attempt to solve the issue, Incentive Enterprise has suggested that 50 per cent of the gold retrieved be given to the British government. The rest could be split after the ownership issue is settled. And, for its hard work, the company could be paid only the salvaging charge.
According to Incentive Enterprise, over the past 100 years, hundreds of ships carrying huge quantities of the yellow metal have sunk along the Indian coast. Company sources said it can retrieve about 30 tonnes of the sunk metal which will be worth about Rs 1,200 crore now.
However, Indian government sources said that according to a survey conducted by an American MNC, about 100 tonnes of gold worth about Rs 4,000 crore lies buried along the Indian coast and all of it can be retrieved. But, the issue will continue to hang fire as the dominant opinion in the government here is that there should be a proper legislation in place before foreign companies are allowed to undertake such ventures.
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