British treasure hunter faces losing £32m silver hoard to South African Government

SS Tilawa, a merchant steamer sunk in 1942 by Japanese torpedoes whilst carrying a £32m cargo of silver bars.

Credit: Champion News 

A British treasure hunter who salvaged £32 million worth of silver from a World War Two wreck faces losing the fortune to South Africa, after a judge allowed his own ruling to be appealed. 

Ross Hyett, 67, a British champion racing driver and financier, organised the secret operation to recover more than 2,000 bars of silver from the wreck of the SS Tilawa, a Tyneside-built 10,000-ton steamer, which was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine off the coast of the Maldives in November 1942.

Mr Hyett, from Derby, spent two years planning and carrying out the salvage operation, and returned the hoard to Southampton in 2017 where he declared it to the Receiver of Wreck, which oversees salvage law.

But now he is embroiled in a row with the legal owner of the treasurer, the South African government (RSA).

The RSA had purchased the 2,391 bars of silver, which were destined to be turned into coins in their national mint, but the cargo was sunk en-route from Bombay to Durban.

Mr Hyett says his company, Argentum Exploration, is not obliged to release the silver until South Africa has agreed to pay him a "salvage reward" under the 1995 Merchant Shipping Act.

In December, Judge Sir Nigel Teare in the Admiralty Court in London found that RSA is obliged to pay up. 

But last week, he granted permission to appeal against his own ruling to RSA after admitting the case was breaking new legal ground.

 Racing driver and treasure hunter Ross Hyett (left)

Credit: Champion News 

Sir Nigel previously ruled in favour of Argentum Exploration arguing that the fact the silver was being carried on a merchant ship when it was lost made it part of a commercial transaction.

But Christopher Smith QC, barrister for RSA, argued last week that the silver was intended for the "sovereign purpose" of minting coins and it should not be considered commercial cargo.

Granting permission for an appeal Sir Nigel said: "There were arguments either way, although I reached a clear conclusion in favour of the claimant. But I cannot in all intellectual honesty say that this is a case where there is no realistic prospect of success.

"There are arguments either way. Seeking to be intellectually honest therefore, I give permission to appeal.”

Of the 2,391 silver bars on board, 2,364 were salvaged by Mr Hyett. As part of the operation to bring the treasure to England, the bars were hidden in a basket and lowered to the seabed when entering international waters when necessary to avoid it being seized.

The case will now move to the Court of Appeal, and the silver will remain held by the Receiver of the Wreck until it is resolved.