NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — An expedition is setting out from South Carolina to recover the rest of the gold thought to be aboard the wreck of the S.S. Central America off the North Carolina coast.
The wreck yielded more than $50 million in gold more than a quarter-century ago.
A vessel from Odyssey Marine Exploration of Tampa, Fla., is expected to leave late Tuesday or Wednesday. It’s not clear just how much gold might still be in the Central America, which sank during an 1857 hurricane while bringing back gold from California.
In 1988, shipwreck enthusiast and Ohio native Tommy Thompson led an expedition that found the wreck and recovered the initial gold. But then came the lawsuits. The way was cleared by an Ohio judge last month for a new expedition.