A group of British treasure hunters have found a chest that could contain up to £100million in Nazi gold in the wreck of a German cargo ship off the coast of Iceland.
UK-based Advanced Marine Services found a box containing up to four tons of valuable metal, believed to be gold from South American banks, in the post room of the SS Minden, which sunk in 1939.
The gold was believed to be on board the ship and headed to Germany when the boat sank 120 miles southeast of Iceland on September 24, 1939, shortly after World War II began.
Advanced Marine Services has applied to the Icelandic government in hopes of gaining permission to cut a hole in the ship to remove the box.
The treasure hunters, who believe the haul belongs to the finder of the box, want to bring the contents back to Britain, according to The Sun.
Earlier this year, the group was accused of looking for the wreckage of the German cargo ship without proper licensing.
Authorities became aware of the firm after a stationary Norwegian research boat Seabed Constructor, rented by the firm, was spotted in Icelandic waters.
According to Iceland Monitor, when the coastguard asked the crew why they were there, they gave ‘vague and different explanations’, prompting the coastguard to instruct them to dock at a pier Reykjavik before sending in police to question the crew.
Georg Lárusson, director of the Icelandic Coastguard, told the website they did not have a permit to search in Icelandic waters.