Sverker Hallstrom is a very happy individual and quite
a large man. He is also larger than life, being a world-renowned shipwreck
treasure hunter.
Sverker is Swedish and was born in Stockholm to a
fisherman father and an artist mother. Art ran all the way through his
family, stemming from his grandparents, but it was one talent that evaded
Sverker. “Even my sister is good at art, but I never was.”
By
the time he was eight he had become fascinated by the sea - and
shipwrecks. He would go down to the rocky foreshores outside Stockholm
looking for interesting flotsam and jetsam. There at night, in the light
of oil lamps, he would listen to the seafaring folk tell of catastrophes
at sea, “There were always stories and tales of shipwrecks. I found it
fascinating.”
After his secondary schooling he initially went to
technical college and did civil engineering, but his heart was at sea, so
he completed a course to be a master mariner. He then began his practical
training on salvage and supply vessels out from Stockholm, and then in
1976 he took a job in Singapore. “The salary was three times that of
Sweden, and the reef outside Singapore had so many wrecks it was a
‘treasure’ island.”
From there he worked for the Offshore Supply
Association in tug supply boats, advancing through the chain of command
towards becoming a ships captain.
In 1981 he struck out on his own, forming a company
specializing in underwater technology. Part of that was purchase of
ROV’s (Remotely Operated Vehicles). This was the “new” technology
which could remotely send a video camera underwater, but initially he met
with resistance - firstly from the divers who felt he was jeopardizing
their positions, but also the clients, who were skeptical that the ROV
would see everything necessary.
However, he found his niche in the oil exploration
industry with their offshore installations. “I could send down the
ROV’s as the eyes for the client.” There he could check pipelines very
quickly, in an industry where time is money. He realized that to be
successful he would have to be the most reliable supplier around so he
duplicated all his key equipment, including the ROV’s. He said proudly,
“I had two days down time in eight years.”
But Sverker had an ambition. “I had this dream that
one day I would start looking for some good stuff.” The “good stuff”
was treasure from the wrecks littering the ocean bed and he began serious
research into these in 1987. To assist him in his quest for the holy grail
he purchased 4 submarines. Faith is all very fine, but technology will be
the winner.
Following his research he went to Vietnam and found the
wreck of the Vung Tao. The cargo was porcelain. This was a very risky
venture which he had to finance himself as he could not get anyone
interested in being a partner. He was not helped either by the auction
house, Sotheby’s. “They said it wasn’t worth salvaging.” Sverker
does have a deep faith in himself and went ahead anyway, bringing up
treasure that went for 7.3 million USD at Christies!
Now 1992, he formed an association with Nigel Pickford,
the author of the Atlas of Shipwrecks and Treasures. With Nigel looking
after the research, Sverker could concentrate on the technology. Together
they found two 15th Century ships wrecked in the South China Sea loaded
with Thai porcelain and then came the biggest adventure of them all. The
RMS Douro.
“People had been looking for the Douro for many years
and I searched from June 1993 until January 1994, when I thought I had
found it in 1200 feet of water. This was going to be seriously costly, so
I had to find an investor. There was only one problem - I was not certain
if the ship I had found really was the Douro!”
The wreck was in the region off Spain called the Costa
del Morte (the death coast) and he sent his ROV’s down again to confirm
the ship. It wasn’t the Douro!
Frantically he went exploring again and after 40 days
of looking he eventually found it on the 4th of July 1995. Then it was
time for the technology again, with Sverker having joined with a specially
equipped vessel, the Deep Sea Worker, which by using a modified oil
drilling rig could go the 1000 feet down and with hydraulic jaws scoop up
the cargo.
It took him only three days to bring the bullion and
gold coins to the surface and at the same time pay out $768,000 for the
use of the special ship. Treasure seekers must be brave! Having found the
hoard, Sverker next had to place the cargo under a type of bond for one
year and one day, before it was legally his. “(Treasure hunting) is an
exciting business, but more of the times it is not. You only get paid
every two to three years.”
Sverker says there are many different kinds of success.
“Some of my unsuccessful ventures have given my life flavour. You lose a
lot of money, but it is interesting. But this is a business too. Real
success is not only doing what I like to do, but making a profit out of it
also.”
His advice to would be treasure seekers was simple,
“I wouldn’t stop anyone doing it, but it’s a helluva learning curve.
You can lose so much money.”
So is the man who searches the ocean floor for around
nine months a year ready to retire? “I am 55 now and I will go on as
long as I can. What I like is when we are out searching - and we find
it!” You get the feeling that treasure hunting is like an addiction -
Sverker couldn’t stop, even if he wanted to.
